Biological Conservation最新文献

{"title":"Indigenous land is the keystone to protecting Brazilian bat (Mammalia: Chiroptera) biodiversity and their ecosystem services","authors":"Bruna Nascimento de Oliveira ,&nbsp;Rafaela Jemely Rodrigues Alexandre ,&nbsp;Simone Almeida Pena ,&nbsp;Letícia Lima Correia ,&nbsp;Allysson Moura Luz ,&nbsp;Thiago Bernardi Vieira","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global biodiversity is under unprecedented threat from anthropogenic activities, particularly in tropical regions that harbor high concentrations of endemic species. Bats, as key ecological players in tropical ecosystems, provide essential services such as pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control, yet many species face significant threats due to habitat loss and degradation. This study evaluates the role of Indigenous Lands (TIs) and Protected Areas (PAs) in conserving bat biodiversity and their ecosystem services in Brazil. Using species distribution models (SDMs) and the Zonation algorithm, we assessed the conservation importance of 179 bat species across different trophic guilds and IUCN threat categories. Our findings reveal that TIs, though not originally designated for biodiversity conservation, play a crucial role in preserving bat habitats. However, current PAs show low importance to protect bat diversity, particularly for species with restricted distributions or those in highly threatened biomes like the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga. The Amazon biome, despite its extensive network of PAs, faces increasing threats from illegal activities, underscoring the need for integrated conservation strategies that include ILs and private lands. We highlight the urgent need for conservation policies grounded in ecological priorities rather than economic or political motivations. Expanding protected areas in critical biomes and incorporating Tis in conservation planning are essential steps to safeguard bat biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111255"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144107494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence for increasing public support for nature conservation: A 15-year longitudinal analysis of nature conservation attitudes in the Netherlands","authors":"Arjen Buijs ,&nbsp;Marjanke Hoogstra-Klein ,&nbsp;Tineke de Boer ,&nbsp;Sabrina Dressel ,&nbsp;Fransje Langers","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transformative change to address the root causes of biodiversity loss critically depends on public support for social, cultural, economic and political change. The general public plays a central role in this process as it influences consumer demand, voting behavior, and stewardship actions. Based on a unique time series of representative quantitative surveys conducted over 15 years (2006–2021; <em>N</em> = 7037), this paper reports on the longitudinal development of attitudes towards nature conservation of the general public in the Netherlands. Analysis shows that public support for nature conservation and for national conservation policies is generally high and rising. Meanwhile, we find an “attitude-priority gap”, where pro-conservation attitudes do not result in prioritizing conservation over other policy issues, such as health care or unemployment. In addition, images of nature change, with increasing support for wilderness-oriented conservation over more managed nature. Cluster analysis identified four distinct groups in society. Groups with strong pro-conservation attitudes show significant more pro-conservation behaviors, including green consumerism, stewardship volunteering and activism. The least supportive group especially criticizes the expansion of natural areas as well as the strict protection of rare and endangered species, because they feel this may limit economic development. While critical voices in society need to be recognized, the generally high public support reported in this paper can also be of benefit to conservationists, policymakers and NGOs in the framing of their ambitions to revers biodiversity loss and taking into account attitudes and perceptions of all relevant stakeholders in society.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111239"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144116352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strong land-use change gradients drive consistent patterns in the three-dimensional β diversity of fish in temperate rivers of northeastern China","authors":"Shuhan Xiong ,&nbsp;Jiacheng Liu ,&nbsp;Peilun Li ,&nbsp;Xiangsheng Meng ,&nbsp;Jilong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111262","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111262","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Sanjiang Plain is one of China's largest and most vital grain-producing regions, with agricultural intensification being one of its most representative characteristics. However, the impacts of this agricultural intensification on local freshwater organisms remain poorly understood. There is an urgent need to analyze the driving weights of natural biogeographic and anthropogenic factors across multiple dimensions, in order to establish a balance point for biodiversity conservation and sustainable agricultural development. Therefore, we examined the relative importance of land use change compared to geographic climate, local environmental factors, and spatial variables on fish community β-diversity, considering three dimensions: taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic. The results demonstrate a significant ecological information correlation among the three dimensions of β-diversity of fish in the Hulan River, with the turnover component being predominant across all dimensions (89.04 % in taxonomy, 79.40 % in functionality, 83.59 % in phylogenetic). This suggests that species-level management within multiple small spatial scales within the basin can effectively conserve the majority of fish species, functional traits, and lineages. Land use exerts the most significant influence through environmental filtering (pure contribution of variance is 0.061–0.110). Woodland area, turbidity, and water depth are the primary environmental drivers. Strong land-use gradients may have shaped this β-diversity pattern. Fish communities exhibit high sensitivity to alterations in the extent of woodland or cropland. Implementing land use planning with gradient characteristics within the basin, particularly emphasizing the gradient change pattern of woodland, is crucial for maintaining the high β-diversity of fish in the Hulan River.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111262"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144098597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatio-temporal interactions between snow leopards, prey, and livestock- implications for coexistence","authors":"Yang Hong ,&nbsp;Minghai Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuehong Cheng ,&nbsp;Xiaoxing Bian ,&nbsp;Yingchun Tan ,&nbsp;Xiaogang Shi ,&nbsp;Jindong Zhang ,&nbsp;Vanessa Hull","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111253","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111253","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Livestock grazing is one of the most intense human activities worldwide, even within protected areas. Understanding the survival characteristics of wildlife and livestock is fundamental to species conservation. Long-term studies of wildlife-livestock interactions are needed to better explore the roots of wildlife-livestock conflict and provide effective protection suggestions. Here, we deployed infrared camera traps in snow leopard habitat in Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China from 2015 to 2022 and analyzed the interactions among snow leopards, blue sheep, and domestic yaks over time with respect to three aspects: spatial distribution, daily activity patterns, and habitat use patterns. We found a high spatial overlap among all three species (average 65.4 %). Snow leopards were crepuscular, while blue sheep and domestic yaks were diurnal. Domestic yaks showed evidence of an overall lower adaptive capacity than blue sheep, with more pronounced shifts in activity patterns over time than the wild species, as well as a more divergent habitat use pattern in choosing areas at lower elevation and with gentler slopes. Changes in daily activity patterns, habitat use and occupancy probability over time were cyclical and suggest complex shifts in niche over time among species. To mitigate wildlife-livestock conflicts in the future, we recommend 1) controlling the number of livestock, 2) improving the carrying capacity of the environment, and 3) optimizing policies to allow for niche differentiation between livestock and wildlife. Our study is helpful for guiding future research directions and formulating effective livestock management policies worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111253"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144098598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A paleoecological perspective to bat conservation: Revealing diet shifts in Myotine bats through guano","authors":"Alexandra Tsalickis ,&nbsp;Richard S. Vachula ,&nbsp;Joshua W. Campbell ,&nbsp;Wendy R. Hood ,&nbsp;Matthew N. Waters","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111263","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111263","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding how land use change impacts bat diet is vital to bat conservation efforts. Little is known about trophic level shifts that occur within bat diets due to variations in the extent of agriculture. Here, we measured ẟ¹³C and ẟ¹⁵N stable isotopic compositions from a modern, post-bomb (after 1950 CE) bat guano core over a 65-year period to answer the following research questions: 1) What vegetation changes are revealed by the ẟ¹³C and ẟ¹⁵N stable isotope compositions? 2) What changes in bat diet occurred in the southeastern Appalachian region? Using this data we also suggest bat conservation recommendations. Based on stratigraphic changes in isotopic values, we determined three distinct phases when bat diet shifted between predatory and herbivorous insect prey. After comparing the stable isotopic compositions to cropland data, we found that changes in the trophic level of bat diet are coeval with changes in agricultural land use. We attribute increased consumption of predatory insects to phases with increased C₄ plants (i.e., crops such as maize). We show that increased agricultural diversity (i.e., crops with high C₃ to C₄ plant mixtures), add structural complexity to a landscape, providing greater food availability and refugia for a diversity of insects. Overall, we found that C₃ to C₄ crop diversity, acted as the mechanism driving bat diet variation between 1952 and 2018 CE. Our recommendations to improve bat conservation include increasing agricultural diversity and increasing vegetative field boundaries in agricultural areas. From this study, we demonstrate that applying paleoecological methods can inform bat conservation efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111263"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144107492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Habitat use by wintering ducks and its economic impact on rice production adjacent to a nature reserve: implications for mitigating human-bird conflicts","authors":"Ningning Liu ,&nbsp;Yanlin Cui ,&nbsp;Yihao Fang ,&nbsp;Shoudong Zhang ,&nbsp;Shaoping Zang ,&nbsp;Xuesong Feng ,&nbsp;Wei Wu ,&nbsp;Xuena Sun ,&nbsp;Zhijun Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111259","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111259","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Globally, human-bird conflict has been a major concern in wildlife conservation in artificial landscapes. Wintering ducks often feed on crops, causing economic losses. However, studies on their habitat use and economic losses remain limited, especially in China, a major agricultural country worldwide. We investigated the number and distribution of wintering ducks at the Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve and adjacent farmland in the Yangtze estuary, China in 2022 and 2023. The local farming practices follow a rice–wheat rotation system, with rice harvested earlier in 2023 (early-November) than in 2022 (late November). We conducted monthly bird surveys and tracked the two dominant species: spot-billed ducks (<em>Anas zonorhyncha</em>) and mallards (<em>Anas platyrhynchos</em>). Fecal DNA analysis, plot method and questionnaires were used to detect their dietary composition and economic losses. In 2022, the peak number of ducks exceeded 100,000, predominantly on farmland in November. In 2023, the number of ducks in November decreased by 71.6 %. The total number of ducks in farmland decreased from 30.1 % in 2022 to 14.9 % in 2023. Both tracked species exhibited significantly higher use of farmland in 2022, at night, and in late winter. Rice grains and wheat accounted for over 50 % of the ducks' food. Economic losses caused by ducks foraging on rice grains significantly reduced in 2023, although questionnaire estimates were much higher than plot surveys in both years. The results suggest that earlier rice harvest can reduce farmland use and economic losses by ducks. We recommend sowing precocious rice varieties and harvesting crops promptly, and increasing edible wild plants in nature reserve to minimize crop losses and mitigate human-bird conflicts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111259"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144107493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Responses of small mammals to prescribed low-intensity fire: Genetic insights from a northern Australian fire experiment","authors":"Alexander R. Carey ,&nbsp;Georgina Neave ,&nbsp;Teigan Cremona ,&nbsp;Hugh F. Davies ,&nbsp;Brett P. Murphy ,&nbsp;Geoffrey J. Cary ,&nbsp;Tiwi Rangers ,&nbsp;Toby Barton ,&nbsp;Sam C. Banks","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prescribed fire is widely used for habitat management in savannas, with biodiversity conservation as a specific objective. However, it is rarely underpinned by an understanding of the mechanisms determining species' responses to fire and persistence in fire-prone environments. We conducted a fire experiment in a mesic northern Australian savanna to investigate the demographic and genetic responses of three small mammal species to fire in areas with different fire frequencies. Live-trapping surveys were conducted before the experimental burns (pre-fire), six-weeks post-fire, and one-year post-fire. For each species, we tested for changes in the number of individuals, capture rates, apparent survival and temporary emigration, genetic diversity, genetic structure, and spatial patterns of relatedness.</div><div>More northern brown bandicoots (<em>Isoodon macrourus</em>) and northern brushtail possums (<em>Trichosurus vulpecula arnhemensis</em>) were captured in high fire frequency plots, whereas more black-footed tree-rats (<em>Mesembriomys gouldii melvillensis</em>) were captured in low fire frequency plots. There was no direct effect of the low-intensity fire event on any demographic or genetic metric for any species. However, there was evidence of species-specific dispersal dynamics, with genetically related northern brown bandicoots more dispersed than the other species, especially six-weeks post-fire. Genetically related northern brushtail possums and black-footed tree-rats mostly occupied the same plots with no effect of fire.</div><div>This research shows that low intensity fire events within early dry season fire management programs in northern Australia have minimal direct impact on populations of these small mammal species but heterogeneity in long-term fire frequency is important for providing habitat for diverse species. However, infrequently burnt habitat is increasingly rare but important for some declining species like the black-footed tree-rat. We therefore recommend strategic long-term fire management that considers the habitat characteristics required for co-occurring species with distinct habitat requirements and life-histories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111261"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What does it take to survive? An expert elicitation approach to understanding the drivers of fire Refugia occurrence and persistence","authors":"T.D. Penman ,&nbsp;A. Smith ,&nbsp;J. Burton ,&nbsp;A. Heap ,&nbsp;S.C. McColl-Gausden ,&nbsp;J. Najera-Umana ,&nbsp;F. Gordon ,&nbsp;B. Holyland ,&nbsp;E. Marshall","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111257","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111257","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is an important ecosystem process globally. However, climate change is intensifying fire regimes resulting in high impacts on many aspects of landscape patterns. Refugia, or unburnt areas within fires, are important for species survival during fire and for recovery after a fire. Understanding the contemporary patterns of fire refugia is important for current fire risk management and long-term conservation planning. In this study we qualify the patterns of fire refugia in southeastern Australia to better inform fire risk management. We use qualitative expert elicitation approaches to identify the variables that land, and fire managers across three case study regions deemed to be the key drivers of fire refugia. We also elicited from experts the relationships between these key drivers and the probability of fire refugia persisting under extreme and benign fire weather conditions. Fire refugia were thought to be restricted spatially due to top-down topographic influences on vegetation structure and composition, as well as moisture. Persistent fire refugia are those which maintain these moisture gradients in the most extreme fire weather conditions. Ephemeral refugia do not have any unique environmental conditions, they differ from persistent refugia as they do not always persist in extreme fire conditions. Fire weather has a dominant role in determining fire refugia, highlighting the challenges of maintaining these sites under predicted climate change. Expert knowledge adds to the tool kit of approaches available for identifying and mapping fire refugia, such as remote sensing approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111257"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Landscape composition can influence reproductive success of plants in semi-natural grasslands depending on their pollinator dependence","authors":"Theresia Krausl,&nbsp;Veronica Hederström,&nbsp;Yuanyuan Quan,&nbsp;Yann Clough","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In a world where insect pollinator declines are a reality, understanding their effects on the reproduction and persistence of wild plant species is vital to contribute to decisions for appropriate conservation strategies. This is especially true in areas which host a high species diversity, like European semi-natural grasslands. In fragmented habitats in particular, pollinator availability can be influenced by surrounding land use, leading to potential cascading effects of land use on plant reproductive success, which is a key factor in wild plant population dynamics. Here, we assess how the proportion of four land-use types (arable land, forest, leys and permanent grasslands) in the surrounding landscape affects pollinator availability and seed set in semi-natural pastures for three plant species varying in pollinator dependence. We found that landscape composition can be connected to the reproductive output of two pollinator-dependent plant species (<em>Lotus corniculatus</em> and <em>Achillea millefolium</em>), and partly to the availability of their pollinators (bumblebees and flies), while a wind-pollinated species (<em>Plantago lanceolata</em>) was less affected. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between pollinator availability and reproductive success can be non-linear, indicating an optimum beyond which plants can be subjected to over-pollination. Pollinator availability and reproductive success were affected in different ways by land-use depending on the plant species. Our results suggest that maintaining and restoring habitat diversity so that landscapes include structural elements like forests as well as extensive land-use types tied to open land will help to support the persistence of the variety of plants that occur in semi-natural grasslands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111220"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant and saproxylic beetle dynamics during succession in lowland temperate broadleaf forests reveal only short periods of increased diversity","authors":"Vojtěch Lanta ,&nbsp;Pavel Sebek ,&nbsp;Petr Kozel ,&nbsp;Jan Altman ,&nbsp;Radek Bače ,&nbsp;Zuzana Chlumská ,&nbsp;Tomáš Černý ,&nbsp;Miroslav Dvorský ,&nbsp;David Hauck ,&nbsp;Kirill Korznikov ,&nbsp;Jan Miklín ,&nbsp;Štěpán Vodka ,&nbsp;Jiří Doležal ,&nbsp;Lukáš Čížek","doi":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest succession, pivotal for biodiversity restoration after disturbance, lacks comprehensive comparisons among different taxa to elucidate mechanisms driving spatiotemporal diversity changes across trophic levels. While forest succession is generally understood, knowledge of multi-taxon succession in lowland temperate broadleaf forests is limited due to scarcity of large old-growth habitats and insufficient long-term multitrophic data.</div><div>We studied successional dynamics of understory plants and saproxylic beetles (xylophages, saproxylophages, saprophages, mycetophages and zoophages) in 91 oak-hornbeam forest stands and examined species richness of functional guilds and ecological traits across a chronosequence spanning 170 years of succession.</div><div>We discovered non-linear successional patterns in species richness and functional groups of both taxa. Peaks in diversity were observed in the early- and late-successional stages, with extended periods of lower diversity in the middle stages. The patterns were closely associated with fluctuations in light availability. Early-successional stages harboured light-demanding species, taller plants, and flower-visiting beetles, while middle stages were species-poorer, favoring organisms typical of shaded, moist environments. In late-successional stages, diversity increased again due to self-thinning and stand aging as succession progressed, but the values did not reach the state of early stages.</div><div>In temperate broadleaf forests, biodiversity fluctuates throughout succession, with brief peaks during the post-disturbance recovery phase and again later as trees age and canopy opens due to treefall. Effective conservation strategies should aim to maintain a heterogeneous canopy structure by applying partial cutting with retained trees and preserve old-growth attributes such as large deadwood and old trees, ensuring an open canopy around these elements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55375,"journal":{"name":"Biological Conservation","volume":"308 ","pages":"Article 111258"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}