Effects of forest management on ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera; Carabidae, Staphylinidae) in Central Europe are mainly mediated by changes in forest structure

Forest management is known to influence species diversity of various taxa but inconsistent or even contrasting effects are reported for arthropods. Regional differences in management as well as differences in regional species pools might be responsible for these inconsistencies, but, inter-regional replicated studies that account for regional variability are rare. We investigated the effect of forest type on the abundance, diversity, community structure and composition of two important ground-dwelling beetle families, Carabidae and Staphylinidae, in 149 forest stands distributed over three regions in Germany. In particular we focused on recent forestry history, stand age and dominant tree species, in addition to a number of environmental descriptors. Overall management effects on beetle communities were small and mainly mediated by structural habitat parameters such as the cover of forest canopy or the plant diversity on forest stands. The general response of both beetle taxa to forest management was similar in all regions: abundance and species richness of beetles was higher in older than in younger stands and species richness was lower in unmanaged than in managed stands. The abundance ratio of forest species-to-open habitat species differed between regions, but generally increased from young to old stands, from coniferous to deciduous stands and from managed to unmanaged stands. The response of both beetle families to dominant tree species was variable among regions and staphylinid richness varied in the response to recent forestry history. Our results suggest that current forest management practices change the composition of ground-dwelling beetle communities mainly by favoring generalists and open habitat species. To protect important forest beetle communities and thus the ecosystem functions and services provided by them, we suggest to shelter remaining ancient forests and to develop near-to-nature management strategies by prolonging rotation periods and increasing structural diversity of managed forests. Possible geographic variations in the response of beetle communities need to be considered in conservation-orientated forest management strategies.

Pistol thrown to the ground by shooter after fatal self inflicted gunshot wound to the chest

We report the case of a 46-year-old man found dead in his apartment in a chair with a gunshot wound in his chest. All circumstances pointed to suicide as the manner of death. Finding the weapon, a SIG Sauer P228 pistol, about 2 m away from the decedent with an obstacle between weapon and corpse however generated speculation about third party involvement. Scene investigations and ballistic calculations showed that with a high probability the weapon must have been purposefully thrown away by the decedent after he fired the lethal gunshot.

MIAWARA-C, a new ground based water vapor radiometer for measurement campaigns

In this paper a new 22 GHz water vapor spectro-radiometer which has been specifically designed for profile measurement campaigns of the middle atmosphere is presented. The instrument is of a compact design and has a simple set up procedure. It can be operated as a standalone instrument as it maintains its own weather station and a calibration scheme that does not rely on other instruments or the use of liquid nitrogen. The optical system of MIAWARA-C combines a choked gaussian horn antenna with a parabolic mirror which reduces the size of the instrument in comparison with currently existing radiometers. For the data acquisition a correlation receiver is used together with a digital cross correlating spectrometer. The complete backend section, including the computer, is located in the same housing as the instrument. The receiver section is temperature stabilized to minimize gain fluctuations. Calibration of the instrument is achieved through a balancing scheme with the sky used as the cold load and the tropospheric properties are determined by performing regular tipping curves. Since MIAWARA-C is used in measurement campaigns it is important to be able to determine the elevation pointing in a simple manner as this is a crucial parameter in the calibration process. Here we present two different methods; scanning the sky and the Sun. Finally, we report on the first spectra and retrieved water vapor profiles acquired during the Lapbiat campaign at the Finnish Meteorological Institute Arctic Research Centre in Sodankylä, Finland. The performance of MIAWARA-C is validated here by comparison of the presented profiles against the equivalent profiles from the Microwave Limb Sounder on the EOS/Aura satellite.

Patches of Bare Ground as a Staple Commodity for Declining Ground-Foraging Insectivorous Farmland Birds

Conceived to combat widescale biodiversity erosion in farmland, agri-environment schemes have largely failed to deliver their promises despite massive financial support. While several common species have shown to react positively to existing measures, rare species have continued to decline in most European countries. Of particular concern is the status of insectivorous farmland birds that forage on the ground. We modelled the foraging habitat preferences of four declining insectivorous bird species (hoopoe, wryneck, woodlark, common redstart) inhabiting fruit tree plantations, orchards and vineyards. All species preferred foraging in habitat mosaics consisting of patches of grass and bare ground, with an optimal, species-specific bare ground coverage of 30–70% at the foraging patch scale. In the study areas, birds thrived in intensively cultivated farmland where such ground vegetation mosaics existed. Not promoted by conventional agri-environment schemes until now, patches of bare ground should be implemented throughout grassland in order to prevent further decline of insectivorous farmland birds.

Small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, are vectors of Paenibacillus larvae

The transmission of honeybee pathogens by free-flying pests, such as small hive beetles (=SHB), would be independent of bees and beekeepers and thereby constitute a new challenge for pathogen control measures. Here we show that larval and adult SHB become contaminated with Paenibacillus larvae spores when exposed to honeybee brood combs with clinical American foulbrood (=AFB) symptoms in the laboratory. This contamination persists in pupae and newly emerged adults. After exposure to contaminated adult SHB, honeybee field colonies showed higher numbers of P. larvae spores in worker and honey samples after five weeks. Despite these results, the rather low number of P. larvae spores on adult SHB suggests that clinical AFB outbreaks are not likely. However, even small spore numbers can be sufficient to spread P. larvae. Therefore, our data clearly show that SHB are vectors of P. larvae. We suggest considering the role of SHB in AFB control in areas where both pests are established.

Ground-based and airborne in-situ measurements of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic aerosol plume in Switzerland in spring 2010

The volcanic aerosol plume resulting from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland in April and May 2010 was detected in clear layers above Switzerland during two periods (17–19 April 2010 and 16–19 May 2010). In-situ measurements of the airborne volcanic plume were performed both within ground-based monitoring networks and with a research aircraft up to an altitude of 6000 m a.s.l. The wide range of aerosol and gas phase parameters studied at the high altitude research station Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.) allowed for an in-depth characterization of the detected volcanic aerosol. Both the data from the Jungfraujoch and the aircraft vertical profiles showed a consistent volcanic ash mode in the aerosol volume size distribution with a mean optical diameter around 3 ± 0.3 μm. These particles were found to have an average chemical composition very similar to the trachyandesite-like composition of rock samples collected near the volcano. Furthermore, chemical processing of volcanic sulfur dioxide into sulfate clearly contributed to the accumulation mode of the aerosol at the Jungfraujoch. The combination of these in-situ data and plume dispersion modeling results showed that a significant portion of the first volcanic aerosol plume reaching Switzerland on 17 April 2010 did not reach the Jungfraujoch directly, but was first dispersed and diluted in the planetary boundary layer. The maximum PM10 mass concentrations at the Jungfraujoch reached 30 μgm−3 and 70 μgm−3 (for 10-min mean values) duri ng the April and May episode, respectively. Even low-altitude monitoring stations registered up to 45 μgm−3 of volcanic ash related PM10 (Basel, Northwestern Switzerland, 18/19 April 2010). The flights with the research aircraft on 17 April 2010 showed one order of magnitude higher number concentrations over the northern Swiss plateau compared to the Jungfraujoch, and a mass concentration of 320 (200–520) μgm−3 on 18 May 2010 over the northwestern Swiss plateau. The presented data significantly contributed to the time-critical assessment of the local ash layer properties during the initial eruption phase. Furthermore, dispersion models benefited from the detailed information on the volcanic aerosol size distribution and its chemical composition.