Small clear-cuts in managed forests support trap-nesting bees, wasps and their parasitoids

Eckerter, Tristan; Braunisch, Veronika; Pufal, Gesine; Klein, Alexandra M. (2022). Small clear-cuts in managed forests support trap-nesting bees, wasps and their parasitoids. Forest Ecology and Management, 509, p. 120076. Elsevier 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120076

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Most forests in Europe are managed but differ in their management intensity. This has different implications for structural- and environmental conditions and subsequently for the conservation of ecological communities, their interactions and functional consequences. Differences in silvicultural treatments, especially those promoting rare habitat structures, could foster trap-nesting bees, wasps and their parasitoids. We therefore tested how forest management and associated vegetation characteristics influence their abundance, richness, parasitism rates and the structure of the bee/wasp-parasitoid networks. Using 180 standardised trap nests on 45 forest plots (1 ha) in the Black Forest, Germany, we compared three management types representing a management intensity gradient: ‘unmanaged’, ‘close-to-nature’, and small ‘clear-cuts’. Host and parasitoid abundance were highest on clear-cut plots and parasitoids were positively influenced by vegetation diversity, whereas bee and wasp richness
were highest on clear-cut and close-to-nature plots. The wasp genus Trypoxylon had the highest abundance on clear-cut plots whereas abundance of Deuteragenia was highest on the other management types. Unmanaged plots supported the lowest abundance and richness of the community. Whilst parasitism rate was not directly influenced by management, networks on clear-cut plots were less specialised and more linked. Our results highlight the importance of early successional habitats for trap-nesting bees, wasps and their parasitoids and the subsequent effect on the size and speciality of their networks. We demonstrate that different forest management types lead to changes in habitat suitability for some species, which translates to changes in host-parasitoid networks.
Small-scale forest openings such as those created naturally by windthrows, and those created anthropogenically such as small-scale clear-cuts promote forest biodiversity and functions associated to Hymenoptera such as bees and wasps.

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