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Low cross-taxon congruence and weak stand-age effects on biodiversity in Swedish oak forests

Johansson, Victor ; Forsman, Anders ; Gustafsson, Lena ; Hall, Marcus ; Edvardsson, Johannes LU ; Salis, Romana LU orcid ; Sunde, Johanna and Franzén, Markus (2025) In Biodiversity and Conservation 34(8). p.2739-2750
Abstract

Assessing cross-taxon congruence is vital for effective forest conservation, because different taxonomic groups may respond inconsistently to key habitat variables such as stand age. We examined six taxonomic groups—insects, arachnids, springtails, epiphytic lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants—across 25 Swedish oak stands ranging from 19 to 165 years old to determine whether species richness correlated among groups (cross-taxon congruence) and how it related to stand age. In total, we identified 22,276 unique taxa (with on average 4,128 per stand) using COI metabarcoding for arthropods and field surveys for lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants. Associations of species richness in each taxonomic group with richness in the others... (More)

Assessing cross-taxon congruence is vital for effective forest conservation, because different taxonomic groups may respond inconsistently to key habitat variables such as stand age. We examined six taxonomic groups—insects, arachnids, springtails, epiphytic lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants—across 25 Swedish oak stands ranging from 19 to 165 years old to determine whether species richness correlated among groups (cross-taxon congruence) and how it related to stand age. In total, we identified 22,276 unique taxa (with on average 4,128 per stand) using COI metabarcoding for arthropods and field surveys for lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants. Associations of species richness in each taxonomic group with richness in the others were weak, indicating low cross-taxon congruence. Only lichens showed a significant, positive relationship of species richness with stand age, while springtails exhibited a unimodal pattern, and the other four groups were unaffected by stand age. Although species composition in four groups changed with stand age, the explanatory power was generally low. Overall, the heterogeneous responses of different groups indicated by our findings caution against the use of single taxonomic groups or environmental variables as indicators and keys to successful protection of biodiversity. Instead, forest management strategies should adopt multi-taxon assessments and recognize the value of both younger and older stands to safeguard biodiversity in oak-dominated landscapes.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arthropods, Biodiversity, Bryophytes, Conservation, Forest ecology, Lichens, Species richness, Vascular plants
in
Biodiversity and Conservation
volume
34
issue
8
pages
12 pages
publisher
Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
external identifiers
  • scopus:105006984084
ISSN
0960-3115
DOI
10.1007/s10531-025-03093-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
76d319b1-60c8-4f4e-956d-bf3ec02031a1
date added to LUP
2025-09-19 10:57:34
date last changed
2025-09-19 10:58:03
@article{76d319b1-60c8-4f4e-956d-bf3ec02031a1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Assessing cross-taxon congruence is vital for effective forest conservation, because different taxonomic groups may respond inconsistently to key habitat variables such as stand age. We examined six taxonomic groups—insects, arachnids, springtails, epiphytic lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants—across 25 Swedish oak stands ranging from 19 to 165 years old to determine whether species richness correlated among groups (cross-taxon congruence) and how it related to stand age. In total, we identified 22,276 unique taxa (with on average 4,128 per stand) using COI metabarcoding for arthropods and field surveys for lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants. Associations of species richness in each taxonomic group with richness in the others were weak, indicating low cross-taxon congruence. Only lichens showed a significant, positive relationship of species richness with stand age, while springtails exhibited a unimodal pattern, and the other four groups were unaffected by stand age. Although species composition in four groups changed with stand age, the explanatory power was generally low. Overall, the heterogeneous responses of different groups indicated by our findings caution against the use of single taxonomic groups or environmental variables as indicators and keys to successful protection of biodiversity. Instead, forest management strategies should adopt multi-taxon assessments and recognize the value of both younger and older stands to safeguard biodiversity in oak-dominated landscapes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Victor and Forsman, Anders and Gustafsson, Lena and Hall, Marcus and Edvardsson, Johannes and Salis, Romana and Sunde, Johanna and Franzén, Markus}},
  issn         = {{0960-3115}},
  keywords     = {{Arthropods; Biodiversity; Bryophytes; Conservation; Forest ecology; Lichens; Species richness; Vascular plants}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{2739--2750}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
  series       = {{Biodiversity and Conservation}},
  title        = {{Low cross-taxon congruence and weak stand-age effects on biodiversity in Swedish oak forests}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-025-03093-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10531-025-03093-y}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}