Initial impact of a soil disturbance technique (disc harrowing) on Orthoptera in a grass heath in Breckland, UK

Abstract

On a Breckland grass heath in eastern England, soil disturbance methods such as disc harrowing employed to benefit endangered plants such as tower mustard, Arabis glabra, could also create exposed ground for localized insects, specifically the mottled grasshopper, Myrmeleotettix maculatus. Orthoptera of disc-harrowed strips on a grass heath at Santon Warren in Norfolk, UK, were monitored in 2018 and 2019. Data analysis focused on two target species, field grasshopper, Chorthippus brunneus, and M. maculatus, which are likely to respond positively to the creation of early successional habitat. Of the two species, M. maculatus was found in significantly high abundance on the disc-harrowed strips, whereas C. brunneus was not. The species richness of Orthoptera did not appear affected by harrowing, although three species at this location (lesser marsh grasshopper, Chorthippus albomarginatus, longwinged conehead, Conocephalus fuscus, and Roesel’s bush-cricket, Roseliana roeselii) need taller vegetation than was present on the disc-harrowed strips.