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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Forest fragmentation truncates a food chain based on an old‐growth forest bracket fungus
Contributor:
Komonen, Atte;
Penttilä, Reijo;
Lindgren, Mariko;
Hanski, Ilkka
imprint:
Wiley, 2000
Published in:Oikos
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900112.x
ISSN:
0030-1299;
1600-0706
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:p>We studied the effect of forest fragmentation on the insect community inhabiting an old‐growth forest specialist bracket fungus, <jats:italic>Fomitopsis
rosea</jats:italic>, in eastern Finland. Samples of the fungus from large
non‐isolated control areas were compared with samples from forest
fragments in two isolation time classes; 2–7 yr and 12–32 yr
since isolation. <jats:italic>Fomitopsis rosea</jats:italic> hosted a species‐rich community
with relatively many specialized old‐growth forest insects. The
numerically dominant food chain consisted of <jats:italic>F. rosea</jats:italic>, the tineid
moth <jats:italic>Agnathosia mendicella</jats:italic> and the tachinid fly <jats:italic>Elfia
cingulata</jats:italic>, a specialist parasitoid of <jats:italic>A. mendicella</jats:italic>. The
frequency of <jats:italic>F. rosea</jats:italic> on suitable fallen spruce logs and the
frequency of <jats:italic>A. mendicella</jats:italic> in fruiting bodies were significantly lower in the forest fragments than in the control areas. The median number of trophic levels decreased from three in the control areas to one in the fragments that had been isolated for the longest period of time. The parasitoid was completely missing from the fragments isolated for 12–32 yr. Our results show that in boreal forests habitat loss and fragmentation truncate food chains of specialized species in the course of time since isolation.</jats:p>