Abstract

Saproxylic beetles have been shown to be vulnerable to within-forest fragmentation expressed as large distances between single dead wood pieces (low spatial connectivity of dead wood). From samples of a two-year study of saproxylic beetles, species that were characteristic of sites with high dead wood connectivity were identified by Canonical Correspondence Analysis and by considering the species occurring exclusively in sites with high dead wood connectivity. These species differed mainly from the other species by their high habitat specificity. Hence, there are species-specific responses of saproxylic beetles to the spatial arrangement of dead wood. High dead wood connectivity must be achieved in managed forests to sustain species which are particularly vulnerable to fragmentation.