Effects of disturbances on scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in Pine Forests

Abstract

I investigated the ecological consequences of disturbances (anthropogenic and natural) on the scuttle fly communities in four large Pine Forests in Poland. I used data on 17,547 male individuals representing 183 species. Communities found in pine plantations (established in clear-cut areas) and in differently treated post-windstorm (with windthrow logs being left or removed) were less diverse than those found in old-growth forest. The communities recorded in the same habitat types in different forest complexes (ca. 300 km apart) were found to display greater similarity than those recorded on adjacent plots in a given forest (ca. 1 km apart), but covering different habitats. The species-specific preference for habitats after disturbances (clear-cuts and post-windstorm areas) was highly correlated between the forests. The abundance of the species with saprophagous larvae was distinctly higher in the disturbed areas than in the old-growth stands. Also, the body length of the scuttle flies was significantly related to their preference for disturbed or undisturbed habitats: smaller species preferred clear-cuts and post-windstorm areas, whereas larger species were related to intact stands. © 2013 The Author(s).