Work

Damselflies and dragonflies in distress: The impact of forest fires and logging on odonate assemblages

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Odonate richness was higher in primary, logged and once-burnt than multiply-burnt landscapes. • Odonate communities in burnt, logged and primary forest landscapes aligned with neutral model predictions. • Species traits were significantly associated with habitat and vegetation structure. • Primary forest landscapes had higher relative abundances of endemic species and species associated with flowing water. • Logged and burnt landscapes had higher relative abundances of widely distributed species associated with standing water. We assessed the impact of logging and forest fires on the species richness, evenness, and structure of odonate assemblages located on the island of Borneo. Landscape-scale species richness was highest in unburnt and once-burnt landscapes and lowest in two landscapes subjected to multiple burn events. These landscapes also had lower evenness compared to primary and once-burnt landscapes, highlighting the detrimental effects of repeated burn events on odonate species assemblages. There was significant geographic distance dependence in three of the six landscapes studied including primary and burnt landscapes. Odonate assemblages, furthermore, did not significantly deviate from Hubbell’s neutral model predictions at metacommunity and local scales in any of the landscapes. Finally, we identified a significant association between species traits and environmental conditions, which appeared to be largely driven by disturbance. Landscapes subjected to multiple burn events in particular were largely populated by species associated with standing water bodies and with large geographical distributions. Our study emphasises how disturbances like burning and logging are associated with shifts in species composition, favouring species associated with disturbed environments, while reducing the prevalence of endemic species.

Source: Ecological Indicators

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113382

Authors: Daniel F.R. Cleary, Anna M. Bijlmer, Dille Wielakker, Nicole J. de Voogd

Institutions: Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, University of Aveiro, Provincie Noord-Holland, Leiden University, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Language: English

Topic: Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,650