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Effects of Habitat Size, Vegetation Cover, and Surrounding Land Use on Diptera Diversity in Temperate Nearctic Bogs

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Abstract

Higher Diptera (Schizophora) are taxonomically and ecologically diverse, and include bog specialist and bog-associated species known to respond to peatland disturbance. We examined the effects of three factors (habitat size, vegetation cover and surrounding land use measured in concentric circles of 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 m radii from the sampling location) on Schizophora species richness, diversity, and composition in six temperate eastern Nearctic bogs. A total of 381 species of Schizophora were collected with observed species richness among sites ranging from 96 to 182. Assemblages in apparently similar peatlands were highly variable, but characterized by a few highly dominant species, most of which are not peatland specialists. Bog size had no influence on species richness or diversity. Vegetation cover at the sampling sites and surrounding land use at the largest scales measured (1500 and 2000 m) both influenced species assemblages.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gilbert and Enid Elliot (Ogden, QC), Parc national de Frontenac, Lake Carmi State Park; Andrée Giroux (MDDEP), Ian Worley and Bill Gill (University of Vermont) and Eric Sorenson (Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife) for information and access to bogs. Gabrielle Gagnon, Peter Kraska and James Kuchta assisted with field work. James O’Hara and Monty Wood (Canadian National Collection of Insects) identified Tachinidae and Marjolaine Giroux (McGill University) identified Sarcophagidae. Rosa Orlandini and Joanna Hobbins (Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre) advised on GIS analysis. Chris Buddle (McGill University) and Robert van Hulst (Bishop’s University) provided statistical advice and assistance. Financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grants to JS and TAW, a Fonds québecois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT) grant to JS and an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship to AM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, QC, J1M 1Z7, Canada

    Jade Savage

  2. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Terry A. Wheeler, Amy M. A. Moores & Amélie Grégoire Taillefer

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  1. Jade Savage
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Correspondence to Jade Savage.

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Savage, J., Wheeler, T.A., Moores, A.M.A. et al. Effects of Habitat Size, Vegetation Cover, and Surrounding Land Use on Diptera Diversity in Temperate Nearctic Bogs. Wetlands 31, 125–134 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0133-8

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