TY - JOUR

T1 - Protected habitats of Natura 2000 do not coincide with important diversity hotspots of arthropods in mountain grasslands

AU - Harry, Ingmar

AU - Höfer, Hubert

AU - Schielzeth, Holger

AU - Assmann, Thorsten

PY - 2019/7

Y1 - 2019/7

N2 - Biodiversity assessments for conservation planning are often restricted to a limited set of species. This is also the case in the context of Natura 2000, where surveys focus strongly on vegetation and selected vertebrate species. Without cross-taxon congruence, however, this approach does not guarantee that the relevant aspects of biodiversity are appropriately represented. We here assess the diversity of vascular plants, carabid beetles and spiders in mountain grasslands of the European Alps. We address the questions whether there are distinct species assemblages in different habitats and whether these assemblages show sufficient cross-taxon congruence. Furthermore, we test whether habitats that are protected based on vegetation characteristics also inhabit an arthropod fauna with highest conservation value. We found only weak agreement in assemblage composition and no positive correlation in species richness across the three focal taxa. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between species richness of plants and carabids, indicating opposing taxon-specific responses to habitat differences and land use intensity. Species richness was higher at protected sites for plants, but not for carabids and spiders. This applied also to the subset of species with highest conservation value. Our results show that prioritisation of sites for conservation based solely on vegetational aspects does not necessarily coincide with important sites for arthropods. This calls for a multi-taxon approach in conservation planning to cover more of the endangered and range-restricted species. Species- and surrogate-based conservation efforts, like the Natura 2000 directive, should therefore be extended to embrace the diversity of arthropods.

AB - Biodiversity assessments for conservation planning are often restricted to a limited set of species. This is also the case in the context of Natura 2000, where surveys focus strongly on vegetation and selected vertebrate species. Without cross-taxon congruence, however, this approach does not guarantee that the relevant aspects of biodiversity are appropriately represented. We here assess the diversity of vascular plants, carabid beetles and spiders in mountain grasslands of the European Alps. We address the questions whether there are distinct species assemblages in different habitats and whether these assemblages show sufficient cross-taxon congruence. Furthermore, we test whether habitats that are protected based on vegetation characteristics also inhabit an arthropod fauna with highest conservation value. We found only weak agreement in assemblage composition and no positive correlation in species richness across the three focal taxa. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between species richness of plants and carabids, indicating opposing taxon-specific responses to habitat differences and land use intensity. Species richness was higher at protected sites for plants, but not for carabids and spiders. This applied also to the subset of species with highest conservation value. Our results show that prioritisation of sites for conservation based solely on vegetational aspects does not necessarily coincide with important sites for arthropods. This calls for a multi-taxon approach in conservation planning to cover more of the endangered and range-restricted species. Species- and surrogate-based conservation efforts, like the Natura 2000 directive, should therefore be extended to embrace the diversity of arthropods.

KW - Araneae

KW - biodiversity conservation

KW - Carabidae

KW - cross-taxon congruence

KW - European Alps

KW - land use change

KW - species conservation

KW - subalpine pasture

KW - taxon surrogacy

KW - vascular plants

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063674590&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/icad.12349

DO - 10.1111/icad.12349

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85063674590

VL - 12

SP - 329

EP - 338

JO - Insect Conservation and Diversity

JF - Insect Conservation and Diversity

SN - 1752-458X

IS - 4

ER -