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<p>Forest wildfires represent a natural phenomenon of forest ecosystem dynamics. However, large-scale forest wildfires are very rare in Central Europe, creating unique habitat conditions for beetles. This study investigated changes in beetle (Coleoptera) communities during the first 2 years after a major wildfire. Beetles were sampled using a stratified sampling design across six contrasting coniferous forest treatments, including burnt and unburnt sites of (i) bark salvage-logged clear-cuts, andbeetle-infested dead-spruce stands, (ii) salvage-logged clear-cuts, and (iii) healthy-forests. A total of 62,128 beetle individuals representing 876 species were identified. Study groups of beetles (all beetles, saproxylic beetles, and non-saproxylic beetles) showed treatment-specific responses during post-fire succession, reflected in both abundance and species richness. The general trend was a sharp year-over-year decline across most treatments. The strongest declines were observed in burnt clear-cuts and burnt healthy treatments, while burnt dead-spruce treatment showed stable responses. Saproxylic beetles exhibited weaker declines, with slight positive trend recorded in several treatments. In contrast, non-saproxylic beetles consistently declined across all treatments. Among all beetle groups, burnt dead-spruce treatment and unburnt healthy treatment showed the greatest temporal stability. Although all burnt treatments exhibited strong compositional shifts in beetle communities when compared to their corresponding unburnt sites, wildfire simultaneously promoted convergence of beetle communities across all burnt treatments. During the first post-fire year, gamma diversity showed the highest variability among treatments, whereas in the second year, their species richness and community composition began to converge. Cumulatively within 2 years, fire increased the number of unique species by 170.3% in healthy and 69.8% in dead-spruce but decreased it by 25.1% in clear-cuts compared to unburnt site. Our extensive study showed that wildfire has a highly site-specific impact on beetle communities in coniferous forests. Each treatment and study group of beetles exhibited distinct post-fire successional dynamics. These findings provide valuable guidance for future forest conservation and management strategies aimed at supporting biodiversity in fire-affected landscapes.</p>

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Post-fire succession of saproxylic and non-saproxylic beetles: wildfire as an almost disappeared historical disturbance in Central Europe

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月29日

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  • Oto Nakládal,
  • Václav Zumr,
  • Roman Modlinger,
  • Jiří Remeš

摘要

Forest wildfires represent a natural phenomenon of forest ecosystem dynamics. However, large-scale forest wildfires are very rare in Central Europe, creating unique habitat conditions for beetles. This study investigated changes in beetle (Coleoptera) communities during the first 2 years after a major wildfire. Beetles were sampled using a stratified sampling design across six contrasting coniferous forest treatments, including burnt and unburnt sites of (i) bark salvage-logged clear-cuts, andbeetle-infested dead-spruce stands, (ii) salvage-logged clear-cuts, and (iii) healthy-forests. A total of 62,128 beetle individuals representing 876 species were identified. Study groups of beetles (all beetles, saproxylic beetles, and non-saproxylic beetles) showed treatment-specific responses during post-fire succession, reflected in both abundance and species richness. The general trend was a sharp year-over-year decline across most treatments. The strongest declines were observed in burnt clear-cuts and burnt healthy treatments, while burnt dead-spruce treatment showed stable responses. Saproxylic beetles exhibited weaker declines, with slight positive trend recorded in several treatments. In contrast, non-saproxylic beetles consistently declined across all treatments. Among all beetle groups, burnt dead-spruce treatment and unburnt healthy treatment showed the greatest temporal stability. Although all burnt treatments exhibited strong compositional shifts in beetle communities when compared to their corresponding unburnt sites, wildfire simultaneously promoted convergence of beetle communities across all burnt treatments. During the first post-fire year, gamma diversity showed the highest variability among treatments, whereas in the second year, their species richness and community composition began to converge. Cumulatively within 2 years, fire increased the number of unique species by 170.3% in healthy and 69.8% in dead-spruce but decreased it by 25.1% in clear-cuts compared to unburnt site. Our extensive study showed that wildfire has a highly site-specific impact on beetle communities in coniferous forests. Each treatment and study group of beetles exhibited distinct post-fire successional dynamics. These findings provide valuable guidance for future forest conservation and management strategies aimed at supporting biodiversity in fire-affected landscapes.