Land sharing in South Patagonia: Conservation of above-ground beetle diversity in forests and non-forest ecosystems

LENCINAS, MARÍA VANESSA; SOLA, FRANCISCO J.; CELLINI, JUAN MANUEL; PERI, PABLO L.; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR, GUILLERMO

THE SCIENCE OF TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 690 p. 132 - 139

0048-9697

Land-sharing strategies, as variable retention silvicultural proposals, are useful to mitigate harmful effects of economicactivities on forest biodiversity; benefits have been reported worldwide for several organisms. However,we suggest that this approach could be useful to improve beetle conservation not only in forests but also in otherecosystem types, based on the results from Southern Patagonia (Argentina). We studied above-ground beetlecommunities using pitfall traps in Nothofagus pumilio forests, Mulguraea tridens shrublands, and magellanicsteppes. The forests were located in Tierra del Fuego Province, while the shrublands and the steppes were inSanta Cruz Province. In forests and shrublands,we compared retention approaches (aggregated/dispersed retentionharvesting in forests, and managed cut and retention strips in shrublands) vs. control situations (withoutharvesting/cuttings). In dry and humid steppes, both impacted by livestock, we evaluated grazed and exclusionpaddocks, comparable to structural retentions (reference areas without grazing do not exist). Richness, abundance,frequency, Shannon-Wiener diversity and Pielou evenness indices, and similarity among assemblageswere evaluated using univariate andmultivariate statistical tests. In forests and shrublands, retention approaches(aggregated/dispersed and strips) allowed the partial or total maintenance of beetle community richness, preservingthem similar to natural and non-impacted ecosystems. In dry and humid steppes, exclusion areas presentedsignificantly different richness, abundance and diversity of arthropod assemblages, but with inverse exclusions in humid steppe. We concluded that land-sharing could be implemented in forests and non-forestecosystems to preserve beetle communities, being the variable retention approaches and the grazing exclusionareas good alternatives for private or public lands. Likewise, we consider that legislation to promote conservation(like National Law 26331) should not be only applicable for and implemented in forests, but also in non-forestecosystems.