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Early changes in Orthopteran assemblages after grassland restoration : a comparison of space-for-time substitution versus repeated-measures monitoring

Rácz, István András and Déri, Eszter and Kisfali, Máté and Batiz, Zoltán and Varga, Katalin and Szabó, Gyula and Lengyel, Szabolcs (2013) Early changes in Orthopteran assemblages after grassland restoration : a comparison of space-for-time substitution versus repeated-measures monitoring. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION, 22 (10). pp. 2321-2335. ISSN 0960-3115

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Abstract

Grasslands harbour significant biodiversity and their restoration is a common intervention in biodiversity conservation. However, we know very little on how grassland restoration influences arthropod groups. Here we compared orthopteran assemblages in croplands, natural grasslands and one to four-year-old grasslands restored in a large-scale restoration on former croplands in Hortobágy National Park (E-Hungary). Sampling was done by standardized sweep-netting both in a repeated measures design and space-for-time substitution (chronosequence) design. General linear models with repeated measures from five years showed that species richness, abundance and Shannon diversity of orthopterans decreased in the year following restoration but increased afterwards. By the fourth year, species richness almost doubled and abundance increased almost ten-fold in restored grasslands compared to croplands. Multivariate analyses showed that species composition in the first two years did not progress much but by the third and fourth year there was partial overlap with natural grasslands. Local restoration conditions (last crop, seed mixture) and landscape configuration (proportion of natural grasslands < 1 km away) did not influence the above patterns in either the repeated measures or the chronosequence design, whereas time since restoration affected almost all community variables. Our results suggest that generalist ubiquitous species appeared in restored grasslands first and the more sensitive species colonized the restored fields gradually in later years. The qualitative and quantitative properties of the orthopteran assemblages in restored fields did not yet reach those of natural grasslands, therefore, our study suggests that the full regeneration of the orthopteran assemblages takes more than four years.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information:
Uncontrolled Keywords: arthropods; chronosequence; grasshoppers katydids and crickets; grassland diversity; habitat restoration; space-for-time substitution
Subjects: Q Science / természettudomány > Q1 Science (General) / természettudomány általában
Q Science / természettudomány > QH Natural history / természetrajz > QH301 Biology / biológia
Q Science / természettudomány > QL Zoology / állattan
SWORD Depositor: MTMT SWORD
Depositing User: MTMT SWORD
Date Deposited: 27 Jan 2014 14:04
Last Modified: 01 Oct 2014 23:15
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/9290

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