LANDSCAPE VS. LOCAL HABITAT SCALE INFLUENCES TO INSECT COMMUNITIES FROM TALLGRASS PRAIRIE REMNANTS

By Kristal Stoner, Anthony Joern. 2004

114 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Habitat loss and fragmentation currently threaten ecosystems worldwide, yet remain difficult to quantify because within-fragment habitat and landscape-scale influences often interact in unique ways. Although individual species respond to fragmentation dif- ferently, large-scale conservation planning must unavoidably target multiple species. Al- though information on a population's response to fragmentation is critical, and measure- ments of species richness provide useful insights, exclusive reliance on these responses may mask important information about the taxonomic composition of assemblages in re- sponse to fragmentation. The North American tallgrass prairie ecosystem is one of the most threatened and fragmented ecosystems in the world, and insects are significant contributors to its biodiversity. In remaining grassland fragments, we evaluated within-fragment influ- ences in conjunction with landscape-scale responses of representative insect communities from four feeding guilds: generalists, specialists, multiple life stage habitat use, and pred- ators. Fragment-specific attributes capable of influencing insect diversity include plant species composition, plant biomass, abundance of blooming flowers, and vertical habitat heterogeneity created by the vegetation. Landscape-scale factors expected to influence pat- terns of insect species diversity include fragment size and shape as well as the spatial configuration of fragments. Ordination techniques were used to summarize composition of each feeding guild assemblage of each fragment, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of fragmentation with influences from local habitats. Generalists (Orthoptera), mixed-modality feeding that changes with life stage (Lepidoptera), and specialist herbivores (Curculionidae) all responded directly to within- site characterizations of the plant community. Site management from large ungulate grazing or mowing for hay production consistently had an indirect effect on the insect community through influences on plant community composition. The predator assemblage (Coccinel- lidae) was influenced directly by fragment shape. To maintain insect biodiversity in tallgrass prairie fragments, these results indicate that conservation practices should focus on com- munities in order to maintain insect biodiversity in tallgrass prairie fragments. Landscape- scale factors must also be considered when making conservation decisions, primarily be- cause predators (top trophic level organisms) are more likely to respond to regional changes.

Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Nature and Landscape Conservation

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Citations in the corpus

DISTURBANCE BY FIRE FREQUENCY AND BISON GRAZING MODULATE GRASSHOPPER ASSEMBLAGES IN TALLGRASS PRAIRIE (2005, background): “…contradictory responses observed when attempting to assess the roles of disturbance from fire and grazing on arthropod communities (Warren et al. 1987, Kemp et al. 1990, Tscharntke and Greiler 1995, Harper et al. 2000, Swengel 2001, Panzer 2002, Tscharntke et al. 2002, Stoner and Joern 2004).”
Soil water partitioning contributes to species coexistence in tallgrass prairie (2007, unknown): “The initial hypotheses used in our SEM development included a comprehensive suite of causal relationships anticipated among multiple parameters (Mitchell 2001, Stoner and Joern 2004).”
Vascular plant and Orthoptera diversity in relation to grassland management and landscape composition in the European Alps (2007, background): “In particular, a large number of possible direct and indirect effects must be uncovered to improve our understanding of the underlying dynamics between landscape-scale factors and local attributes (Stoner & Joern 2004).”
Agricultural management, vegetation traits and landscape drive orthopteran and butterfly diversity in a grassland–forest mosaic: a multi‐scale approach (2009, result): “…have stressed contrasting results on the importance of composition (e.g. Batáry et al., 2007; Marini et al., 2008) and configuration (e.g. Stoner & Joern, 2004; Diekötter et al., 2007), our study clearly indicates the importance of the presence of woody vegetation in our…”
The effects of grassland management and aspect on Orthoptera diversity and abundance: site conditions are as important as management (2013, background): “The main reason for the higher suitability of pastures compared to meadows is probably due to the greater environmental heterogeneity (vegetation structure) caused by grazing (Joern 2004; Stoner and Joern 2004; Adler et al. 2001; Parsons and Dumont 2003).”
Biological consequences of invasion by reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) (2009, background): “…weather, wetland size, successional state, and landscape context of habitats can all affect arthropod samples (Haynes et al. 2007; Martinko et al. 2006; Murdoch et al. 1972; Stoner and Joern 2004; Wilkie et al. 2007), and these will require better controls in future studies of widespread patterns.”