Abstract
The use of riparian buffer strips as a means of reducing diffuse pollution in European grassland systems is becoming more common and consequently there is a need for comprehensive research on the influence of buffer strip management, placement and structure on biodiversity. Carabid assemblages were examined in a range of riparian zones in intensively managed grassland in Scotland. Carabids were monitored by pitfall trapping in riparian zones open to grazing, wide riparian buffer strips (>5 m wide), narrow boundary strips (<2 m wide) and adjacent fields in order to determine factors influencing carabid diversity and assemblage structure. While carabid diversity was greater in open riparian zones and narrow boundary strips when compared to the adjacent fields, it was actually poorer in wide riparian buffers when compared to open zones thus indicating wide buffers may actually be detrimental to carabid diversity. Carabid assemblages in wide riparian buffers were, however, more distinct from the adjacent field than narrow boundary strips or riparian zones open to grazing. Consequently, while the presence of wide riparian buffers may not promote carabid diversity within the actual buffer strips, by adding an additional habitat that supports a distinct carabid assemblage, riparian buffer strips may promote diversity at the landscape level. Carabid assemblage structure was driven by a combination of soil and vegetation characteristics in addition to physical attributes including distance from the watercourse and width of the strip. Only when we have a better understanding of the factors influencing biodiversity within riparian buffer strips can we start to formulate effective management prescriptions that fuse their dual function of pollution mitigation and biodiversity promotion.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bäckman JPC, Tiainen J (2002) Habitat quality of field margins in a Finnish farmland area for bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Bombus and Psithyrus). Agr Ecosyst Environ 89:53–68
Bedford SE, Usher MB (1994) Distribution of arthropod species across the margins of farm woodlands. Agr Ecosyst Environ 48:295–305
Bell D, Petts GE, Sadler JP (1999) The distribution of spiders in the wooded riparian zone of three rivers in western Europe. Regul River 15:141–158
Boatman ND (1994) Field margins: integrating agriculture and conservation. British Crop Protection Council Monograph no 58, British Crop Protection Council
Bohan DA, Bohan AC, Glen DM, Symondson WOC, Wiltshire CW, Hughes L (2000) Spatial dynamics of predation by carabid beetles on slugs. J Anim Ecol 69:367–379
Cole LJ, McCracken DI, Dennis P, Downie IS, Griffin AL, Foster GN, Murphy KJ, Waterhouse T (2002) Relationships between agricultural management and ecological groups of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on Scottish farmland. Agr Ecosyst Environ 93:232–336
Cole LJ, McCracken DI, Baker L, Parish D (2007) Grassland conservation headlands: their impact on invertebrate assemblages in intensively managed grasslands. Agr Ecosyst Environ 122:252–258
Corbacho C, Sanchez JM, Costillo E (2003) Patterns of structural complexity and human disturbance of riparian vegetation in agricultural landscapes of a Mediterranean area. Agr Ecosyst Environ 95:495–507
Deschênes M, Bélanger L, Giroux JF (2002) Use of farmland riparian strips by declining and crop damaging birds. Agr Ecosyst Environ 95:567–577
Fischer RA, Fischenich JC (2000) Design recommendations for riparian corridors and vegetated buffer strips. EMRRP Technical Notes Collection (TN EMRRP-SR-24). US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg
Fuller RJ (2000) Relationships between recent changes in lowland British agriculture and farmland bird populations: an overview. In: Aebischer NJ, Evans AD, Grice PV, Vickery JA (eds) Ecology and conservation of lowland farmland birds. British Ornithologist’s Union, Tring, UK
Greenslade PJM (1964) Pitfall trapping as a method for studying populations of Carabidae (Coleoptera). J Anim Ecol 33:301–310
Jörg E (1994) Field margin—strip programmes. Landesanstalt für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenschutz, Mainz
Hafner CL, Brittingham MC (1993) Evaluation of a streambank fencing program in Pennsylvania. Wildl Soc Bull 21:307–314
Haysom KA, McCracken DI, Roberts DJ, Sotherton NW (2000) Grassland conservation headlands: a new approach to enhancing biodiversity on grazing land. In: Rook AJ, Penning PD (eds) Grazing management: the principles and practice of grazing for profit and environmental gain within temperate grassland systems, 159–160 British Grassland Society Occasional Symposium 34 Harrogate, 29 February–2 March 2000
Haysom KA, McCracken DI, Foster GN, Sotherton NW (2004) Developing grassland conservation headlands: response of carabid assemblage to different cutting regimes in a silage field edge. Agr Ecosyst Environ 102:263–277
Kaule G, Beutler A, Hasase R, Scholl G, Seidl F (1983) Forschungsvorhaben: Trennwirkung von Flubereinigungswegen und Bedeutung von Rainen und Banketten. Universit Stuttgart, Abschlußbericht
Kleijn D, Verbeek M (2000) Factors affecting the species composition of arable boundary vegetation. J Appl Ecol 37:256–266
Kromp B (1990) Carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) as bioindicators inbiological and conventional farming in Austrian potato fields. Biol Fertil Soils 9:182–187
Kromp B, KH Steinberger (1992) Grassy field margins and arthropod diversity: a case study on ground beetle and spiders in eastern Austria (Coleoptera: Carabidae; Arachnida: Aranei, Opiliones). Agr Ecosyst Environ 40:71–93
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Marshall ELP (1989) Distribution patterns of plants associated with arable field margins. J App Ecol 26:247–257
Marshall EJP, Moonen AC (2002) Field margins in northern Europe: their functions and interactions with agriculture. Agr Ecosyst Environ 89:5–21
Olson DM, Wäckers FL (2007) Management of field margins to maximise multiple ecological services. J App Ecol 44:13–21
Payne RW, Harding SA, Murray DA, Soutar DM, Baird DB, Welham SJ, Kane AF, Gilmour AR, Thompson R, Webster R, Tunnicliffe Wilson G (2005) GenStat 8.1. Lawes Agricultural Trust, Rothamsted
Peach WJ, Lovett LJ, Wotton SR, Jeffs C (2001) Countryside stewardship delivers cirl buntings (Emberiza cirlus) in Devon, UK. Biol Conserv 101:361–373
Robel RJ, Briggs JN, Dayton AD, Hulbert LC (1970) Relationships between visual obstruction measurements and weight of grassland vegetation. J Range Manag 23:295–297
Röser B (1988) Saum und Kleinbiotope Ökologische Funktion, wirtschaftliche Bedeutung und Schutzwürdigkeit in. Agrarlandschaften Ecomed, Landsberg/L, pp 258
Rushton SP, Barreto GW, Cormack RM, MacDonald DW (2000) Modelling the effects of mink and habitat fragmentation on the water vole. J Appl Ecol 37:475–490
Sala OE, Chapin III FS, Armesto JJ, Berlow E, Bloomfield J, Dirzo R, Huber Sabwakd E, Huenneke LF, Jackson RB, Kinzig A, Leemans R, Lodge DM, Mooney HA, Oesterheld M, Poff NL, Sykes MT, Walker BH, Walker M, Wall DH (2000) Global biodiversity scenarios of the year 2100. Science 287:1770–1774
Schippers P, Joenje W (2002) Modelling the effect of fertiliser, mowing, disturbance and width on the biodiversity of plant communities of field boundaries. Agr Ecosyst Environ 93:351–365
Siriwardena GM, Baillie SR, Buckland ST, Fewster RM, Marchant JH, Wilson JD (1998) Trends in the abundance of farmland birds: a quantitative comparison of smoothed Common Bird Census indices. J Appl Ecol 35:24–43
Smith HE, Firbank LG, Macdonald DW (1999) Uncropped edges of arable fields managed for biodiversity do not increase weed occurrence in adjacent crops. Biol Conserv 89:107–111
ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (2002) CANOCO Reference Manual and CanoDraw for Windows User’s Guide: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 45). Microcomputer Power, Ithaca
Telfer MG, Meek WR, Lambdon P, Pywell RF, Sparks TH (2000) The carabids of conventional and widened field margins. Asp Appl Biol 58:411–416
Thomas CFG, Parkinson L, Marshall EJP (1998) Isolating the components ofactivity-density for the carabid beetle Pterostichus melanarius in farmland. Oecologia 116:103–112
Thomas CFG, Parkinson L, Griffiths GJK, Fernandez Garcia A, Marshall EJP (2001) Aggregation and temporal stability of carabid beetle distributions in field and hedgerow habitats. J Appl Ecol 38:100–109
Thomas SR, Noordhuis R, Holland JM, Goulson D (2002) Botanical diversity of beetle banks - Effects of age and comparison with conventional arable field margins in southern UK. Agr Ecosyst Environ 93:403–412
Thiele HU (1977) Carabid beetles in their environment. Springer Verlag, Berlin
Wallin H (1989) Habitat selection, reproduction and survival of two small carabid species on arable land: a comparison between Trechus secalis and Bembidion lampros. Ecography 12:193–200
Woodcock BA, Potts SG, Pilgrim E, Ramsay AJ, Tscheulin T, Parkinson A, Smith REN, Gundrey AL, Brown VK, Tallowin JR (2007) The potential of grass field margin management for enhancing beetle diversity in intensive livestock farms J Appl Ecol 44:60–69
Acknowledgements
We would first like to thank the many farmers and landowners who provided access to their land for this study. We are also extremely grateful to Shona Blake and Sarah Brocklehurst for their help and advice. The Scottish Agricultural College receives financial support from the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cole, L.J., Morton, R., Harrison, W. et al. The influence of riparian buffer strips on carabid beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblage structure and diversity in intensively managed grassland fields. Biodivers Conserv 17, 2233–2245 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9304-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9304-1