Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Response to Harvest Residue Retention: Implications for Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Production
Date
2019-12
Authors
Grodsky, Steven
Hernandez, Rebecca
Campbell, Joshua
Hinson, Kevin
Keller, Oliver
Fritts, Sarah R.
Homyack, Jessica
Moorman, Christopher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract
Research Highlights: Our study adds to the scant literature on the effects of forest bioenergy on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and contributes new insights into the responses of ground beetle species and functional groups to operational harvest residue retention. We discovered that count of Harpalus pensylvanicus (DeGeer)—a habitat generalist—increased owing to clear-cut harvests but decreased due to harvest residue reductions; these observations uniquely allowed us to separate effects of additive forest disturbances to demonstrate that, contrarily to predictions, a generalist species considered to be adapted to disturbance may be negatively affected by altered habitat elements associated with disturbances from renewable energy development.
Background and Objectives: Despite the potential environmental benefits of forest bioenergy, woody biomass harvests raise forest sustainability concerns for some stakeholders. Ground beetles are well established ecological indicators of forest ecosystem health and their life history characteristics are connected to habitat elements that are altered by forest harvesting. Thus, we evaluated the effects of harvest residue retention following woody biomass harvest for forest bioenergy on ground beetles in an operational field experiment.
Materials and Methods: We sampled ground beetles using pitfall traps in harvest residue removal treatments representing variable woody biomass retention prescriptions, ranging from no retention to complete retention of all merchantable woody biomass. We replicated treatments in eight clear-cut stands in intensively managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests in North Carolina and Georgia.
Results: Harvest residue retention had no effect on ground beetle richness and diversity. However, counts of H. pensylvanicus, Anisodactylus spp., and “burrower” and “fast runner” functional groups, among others, were greater in treatments with no woody biomass harvest than those with no harvest residue retention; all of these ground beetles may confer ecosystem services in forests. We suggest that H. pensylvanicus is a useful indicator species for burrowing and granivorous ground beetle response to harvest residue reductions in recently harvested stands. Lastly, we propose that retaining 15% retention of total harvest residues or more, depending on regional and operational variables, may support beneficial ground beetle populations
Description
Keywords
Carabidae, Coarse woody debris, forest bioenergy, forest management, ground beetles, Harpalus pensylvanicus, intensively managed forests, loblolly pine, renewable energy, woody biomass, Biology
Citation
Grodsky, S. M., Hernandez, R. R., Campbell, J. W., Hinson, K. R., Keller, O., Fritts, S. R., Homyack, J. A., & Moorman, C. E. (2019). Ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) response to harvest residue retention: Implications for sustainable forest bioenergy production. Forests, 11(1).
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© 2019 The Authors.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.