Moisture limits the diversity of nesting bees, wasps, and parasitoids in lying and standing deadwood
7 affiliations
- 1Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Corresponding author at: Stefan-Meier-Straße 76, Freiburg im Breisgau, 79104, Germany.
- 2Animal Population Ecology, Bayreuth Centre of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
- 3Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- 4State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- 5Animal Ecology and Trophic Interactions, Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
- 6Department of Biology, Marburg University, Marburg, Germany; Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, Biodiversity Centre, Gießen, Germany; Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- 7Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Corresponding author at: Stefan-Meier-Straße 76, Freiburg im Breisgau, 79104, Germany.
Abstract
Saproxylic insect community assembly is structured by deadwood and forest habitat gradients, as well as biotic interactions such as competition, predation, and parasitism. However, co-variation between abiotic and biotic conditions limits our ability to disentangle their contributions. Furthermore, a focus on beetles in temperate and boreal forests has left important taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps. Here, we tested how experimentally manipulated tree diversity, deadwood position (lying vs. standing), and biotic interactions with a dominant antagonist (ant exclusion) structure communities of deadwood-cavity-nesting bees, wasps, and their parasitoids in a subtropical forest. Lying deadwood supported less diverse and abundant communities than standing deadwood while retaining approximately twice as much moisture. Moreover, host emergence declined along moisture gradients within each deadwood type. Together, these patterns suggest that substrate moisture is an important factor limiting bee and wasp communities nesting in deadwood – reflecting reduced brood production, survival, or both – and is a candidate driver for their positive association with standing deadwood in forests. By contrast, neither ant exclusion nor observed ant occurrence was associated with host or parasitoid responses. Because standing deadwood is typically scarce in managed forests, our findings support retaining or creating standing deadwood structures alongside lying deadwood and, more broadly, promoting dry and elevated nesting substrates for cavity-nesting bees and wasps in conservation and restoration measures.
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BibTeX
@article{martini2026moisture,
title = {{Moisture limits the diversity of nesting bees, wasps, and parasitoids in lying and standing deadwood}},
author = {Massimo Martini and Matteo Dadda and Felix Fornoff and Heike Feldhaar and Arong Luo and Finn Rehling and Joshua E. Spitz and Michael Staab and Simon Thorn and Chao-Dong Zhu and Alexandra-Maria Klein},
journal = {Basic and Applied Ecology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.baae.2026.151865},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2026.151865},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Moisture limits the diversity of nesting bees, wasps, and parasitoids in lying and standing deadwood
AU - Massimo Martini
AU - Matteo Dadda
AU - Felix Fornoff
AU - Heike Feldhaar
AU - Arong Luo
AU - Finn Rehling
AU - Joshua E. Spitz
AU - Michael Staab
AU - Simon Thorn
AU - Chao-Dong Zhu
AU - Alexandra-Maria Klein
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Basic and Applied Ecology
DO - 10.1016/j.baae.2026.151865
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2026.151865
AB - Saproxylic insect community assembly is structured by deadwood and forest habitat gradients, as well as biotic interactions such as competition, predation, and parasitism. However, co-variation between abiotic and biotic conditions limits our ability to disentangle their contributions. Furthermore, a focus on beetles in temperate and boreal forests has left important taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps. Here, we tested how experimentally manipulated tree diversity, deadwood position (lying vs. standing), and biotic interactions with a dominant antagonist (ant exclusion) structure communities of deadwood-cavity-nesting bees, wasps, and their parasitoids in a subtropical forest. Lying deadwood supported less diverse and abundant communities than standing deadwood while retaining approximately twice as much moisture. Moreover, host emergence declined along moisture gradients within each deadwood type. Together, these patterns suggest that substrate moisture is an important factor limiting bee and wasp communities nesting in deadwood – reflecting reduced brood production, survival, or both – and is a candidate driver for their positive association with standing deadwood in forests. By contrast, neither ant exclusion nor observed ant occurrence was associated with host or parasitoid responses. Because standing deadwood is typically scarce in managed forests, our findings support retaining or creating standing deadwood structures alongside lying deadwood and, more broadly, promoting dry and elevated nesting substrates for cavity-nesting bees and wasps in conservation and restoration measures.
SN - 1439-1791
SN - 1618-0089
ER -