To Conserve or to Control? Endangered Saproxylic Beetles Considered as Forest Pests

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Abstract

Saproxylic beetles are common in all types of forests, but they are more abundant in natural forests. They are mostly recognized as beneficial insects, as they are involved in decomposition and the recycling of nutrients. On the other hand, traditional forestry practices consider them as pests, as they reduce the value of timber. In Europe, 17.9% of saproxylic beetle taxa are considered threatened. The main threats are the reduction, fragmentation, and loss of connectivity of their habitats, mostly as a consequence of forest management. None of the taxa considered as pests are listed as threatened, but many of them are thought to be in decline or their population trend is unknown. Based on European legislation currently in use and the IUCN Red List, along with other regional and national red lists, we propose a simplified decision-making flowchart that should be followed regarding the adoption of different control measures against severe infestations and pest outbreaks. However, the best way to prevent population decline and keep their populations stable is the sustainable management of their habitats.

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Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity.

Bradley Cardinale, J Duffy, Andrew Gonzalez … (2012)

The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world's nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth's ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper.

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Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity

Tim Newbold, Lawrence N. Hudson, Samantha L. L. Hill … (2015)

Human activities, especially conversion and degradation of habitats, are causing global biodiversity declines. How local ecological assemblages are responding is less clear--a concern given their importance for many ecosystem functions and services. We analysed a terrestrial assemblage database of unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage to quantify local biodiversity responses to land use and related changes. Here we show that in the worst-affected habitats, these pressures reduce within-sample species richness by an average of 76.5%, total abundance by 39.5% and rarefaction-based richness by 40.3%. We estimate that, globally, these pressures have already slightly reduced average within-sample richness (by 13.6%), total abundance (10.7%) and rarefaction-based richness (8.1%), with changes showing marked spatial variation. Rapid further losses are predicted under a business-as-usual land-use scenario; within-sample richness is projected to fall by a further 3.4% globally by 2100, with losses concentrated in biodiverse but economically poor countries. Strong mitigation can deliver much more positive biodiversity changes (up to a 1.9% average increase) that are less strongly related to countries' socioeconomic status.