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Fragmented natural habitats within human-transformed landscapes play a key role in preserving biodiversity. Ants as keystone species are essential elements of terrestrial ecosystems; thus, it is important to understand the factors influencing their presence. In a large-scale multi-site study, we surveyed ant assemblages using sweep netting and D-vac sampling on 158 ancient burial mounds preserving grassland habitats in agricultural landscapes in East-Hungary. We asked the following questions: (1) How do habitat factors and landscape composition affect species richness and functional diversity of ants? (2) Which ant traits are affected by habitat factors and landscape composition? Despite their small sizes, mounds as permanent and relatively undisturbed landscape elements could provide safe havens for diverse ant assemblages even in transformed agricultural landscapes. The complex habitat structure of wooded mounds supported high species and functional diversity of ant assemblages. Ant species on wooded mounds had small or medium-sized colonies, enabling the co-existence of more species. The effect of landscape composition on ant assemblages was mediated by habitat factors: steep slopes buffered the negative effect of the cropland matrix and enabled higher ant diversity.

Cannibalistic necrophagy is rarely observed in social hymenopterans, although a lack of food could easily favour such behaviour. One of the main supposed reasons for the rarity of necrophagy is that eating of nestmate corpses carries the risk of rapid spread of pathogens or parasites. Here we present an experimental laboratory study on behaviour indicating consumption of nestmate corpses in the ant Formica polyctena . We examined whether starvation and the fungal infection level of the corpses affects the occurrence of cannibalistic necrophagy. Our results showed that the ants distinguished between corpses of different types and with different levels of infection risk, adjusting their behaviour accordingly. The frequency of behaviours indicating cannibalistic necrophagy increased during starvation, although these behaviours seem to be fairly common in F. polyctena even in the presence of other food sources . The occurrence and significance of cannibalistic necrophagy deserve further research because, in addition to providing additional food, it may be part of the hygienic behaviour repertoire. The ability to detect infections and handle pathogens are important behavioural adaptations for social insects, crucial for the fitness of both individual workers and the entire colony.

Pitfall traps are widely used for sampling ground-dwelling arthropods. Their sampling efficiency is affected by several factors, e.g. material, size and modification of parts of the trap and sampling design. Pitfall trap sampling is also affected by the accumulation of plant litter in the traps, rain fall and by-catches of small vertebrates, which may cause a bias in the catch by obstructing traps or attracting certain insects. A roof that prevents rain and plant litter entering a trap, prevents dilution of the preservative and escape of arthropods. The main goal of present study was to compare the effect of four types of differently combined funnel and roof pitfall traps on the capture efficiency of epigeal arthropods. We found that a funnel and/or a roof had no effect on spider catches. Total abundance of large carabids and thus the total abundance of ground beetles was lower in funnel pitfall traps without a roof than in other types of traps. However, funnel pitfall traps with roofs collected significantly more carabid beetles, especially individuals of those species that are large or good fliers. We conclude that funnel pitfall traps with roofs have no negative effects on capture efficiency of ground beetles and spiders, therefore application of this sampling technique is strongly recommended.

Disentangling the effects of different landscape and local attributes on the biota of habitat patches is often challenging. In Central European forest‐steppe ecosystems the high number of forest fragments and the relatively homogenous matrix between them offer the opportunity to disentangle the effects of habitat size and landscape structure (both landscape composition and landscape configuration) on plant and arthropod biodiversity. We selected 40 forest fragments: 20 forest fragments in extensive, dry, sandy forest‐steppe region and 20 fragments in a mesic forest‐steppe region of Hungary. We classified the detected plant and arthropod species according to their habitat association as forest specialist species or open habitat species. We then tested the effect of fragment size, landscape composition, and landscape configuration on their species richness and abundances. We found that increasing forest fragment size, forest habitat amount, and forest edge length had in general positive effects on forest spider abundance, but negative on open‐habitat arthropod abundances and plant species richness, varying a little among the studied taxa. Most interestingly, the effects of fragment size were often moderated by both landscape composition and landscape configuration, as well as habitat association of species. The fragment size effect was more pronounced in landscapes with low forest habitat amount having positive effects on forest spiders and negative effects on open‐habitat plants. An effective conservation strategy should take into account not only the presence of forest fragments, but also the size and configuration as well as the connectivity of forest fragments, to maximize diversity benefits of forest patches.

The Tisza River Basin is an important area as it is a green corridor in which there are highly endangered habitats and a high level of biodiversity. The patterns in the species richness of invertebrates and the environmental conditions affecting these patterns are poorly studied in the grassy habitats in the lower reaches of the Tisza River Basin. The present study focuses on the effects of flooding, habitat and landscape features on the species richness of orthopterans at 24 grassland sites in two different landscapes. The relations between the explanatory variables and the pattern of diversity of orthopterans with different life-history traits were studied, using ordination and Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Although the influential factors for the different trait groups differed, we suggest that landscape features are the most important in shaping orthopteran assemblages, whereas habitat characteristics and flooding have comparatively little effect. Habitat characteristics affected only the non-xerophilous and Ensifera species and only the species richness of non-xerophilous orthopterans in flooded and non-flooded sites differed. We emphasize that even in countries where there are still considerable areas of high value natural grasslands, such as Hungary, non-protected meadows, linear grassy habitats (dikes, ditch banks, road verges, etc.) need more attention and should be given higher priority in the conservation of invertebrates.

Habitat fragmentation has far-reaching negative impacts on the environment, resulting in biodiversity loss, soil quality degradation and alteration of water availability. In addition, fragmentation can disrupt ecological processes, potentially facilitating the establishment and spread of invasive plants, which can further harm native arthropod communities and alter their ecosystem dynamics. However, the exact nature of these impacts may vary depending on local conditions. We investigated the impact of fragmentation and milkweed invasion on invertebrate communities in sandy grasslands of forest-steppe habitats in Hungary. We selected 30 grasslands in forest-steppe fragments, varying in size (0.2 to 8.7 ha) and connectivity (Hanski’s connectivity index: 0 to 705). We sampled ground-dwelling arthropods, mainly herbivores (true bugs) and predators (spiders), with pitfall traps and pollinators (wild bees) by direct observations along transects in invaded vs. non-invaded patches (min. of 500 m 2 ) of each fragment. We considered arthropod species’ body size (all groups), dispersal ability and feeding (herbivores and predators) and nesting location and social habit (wild bee) traits in our analyses. In non-invaded patches, the number of monophagous herbivores showed an increasing trend, whereas in invaded fragments, there were more polyphagous individuals with increasing connectivity and fragment size. The dispersal ability of predators was lower as connectivity increased in non-invaded patches but higher in patches invaded by milkweed. We found more ground nesting bees in the invaded patches of small fragments than in large fragments, however, we did not find a significant effect in non-invaded patches. In summary, we often found interacting effects of the studied variables, fragmentation and invasions, generally modifying each other’s effect by filtering for opposite trait levels. The primary objective of restoration projects should be restoring habitat of appropriate size and connectivity and eradicating invasive species while concurrently supporting the revival of native species and their ecological relationships. It is essential to employ adaptive management techniques, including continuous monitoring, to effectively tackle the interaction between fragmentation, invasion, and the preservation of biodiversity.

Species can survive periods of unfavorable conditions in small areas that are protected from climate-related disturbances, such as increasing temperature and severe drought. These areas are known as “microrefugia” and are increasingly recognized by conservationists. Although some studies suggest that the in situ survival of invertebrate species may be mediated by topographically complex environments, there is little information about the main environmental factors that drive species distributions within such areas. Here, we investigate the spatial patterns and species trait composition (moisture preference, body size, dispersal capacity, and feeding habit) of five groups of ground-dwelling arthropods—spiders, woodlice, ants, ground beetles, and rove beetles—in topographic depressions (i.e., “solution dolines” or “solution sinkholes”) and on the surrounding plateau within a forested karst landscape and analyze the microhabitat conditions that affect these arthropod assemblages. We found that dolines have the capacity to maintain characteristic arthropod assemblages—including species that may be particularly vulnerable to climate change (e.g., species associated with moist habitats)—and thus, they may contribute to the landscape-scale biodiversity of karst landscapes. We also found that doline bottoms have the potential to maintain permanently moist conditions not only in spring and autumn but also during drier periods of the year. This ability of dolines may indicate the presence of potential hydrologic microrefugia. Furthermore, dolines displayed specific sets of species traits (e.g., more small-bodied spiders, more carnivorous ground beetles, and more rove beetles with high dispersal capacity occurred in dolines than on the plateau), highlighting that they may facilitate the persistence of some species and traits that are purged from the surrounding landscape. Future studies may reveal the long-term ecological consequences of different climatic and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and functional traits of arthropod taxa within microrefugia and on the refugial capacity of these safe havens under a warming climate.

Lowland rivers and their floodplains have changed markedly over the last centuries. River dikes have become among the most extensive secondary habitats of former floodplains. Our main question was, what role do secondary habitats on river dikes play in harbouring plant species and maintaining plant diversity of lowland landscapes dominated by agricultural areas? We compared historical maps and current habitat maps to understand the effects of landscape changes on the vegetation pattern of the study region, in southern Hungary. Dikes and primary vegetation of the landscape were selected for intensive vegetation sampling. We compared the floristic similarity and the Shannon diversity of the vegetation types. We used ordinations to visualize relationships among the vegetation types and among dike vegetation and environmental variables. Our results indicated that profound changes have been brought about in the vegetation during the last 150 years, resulting in a transition from marshland to agricultural land. The species composition and pattern of dike vegetation strongly depended on their relative position to the river and their aspect. We conclude that dikes can harbour many vascular plants that are absent or rare in the surrounding habitats and therefore play a decisive role in maintaining plant diversity in agricultural landscapes.

Drainage ditches play a key role in the conservation of fragmented landscapes by providing refuge sites and secondary habitats for many terrestrial and aquatic organisms across various taxa. Species richness of ditches can exceed that of adjacent natural habitats, but here, we looked further and assessed the role of drainage ditches in shaping the community structure of true bugs aiming to better estimate ditches’ conservation value from the point of their species and trait composition. We tested the effects of the ditch substrate (saline, sandy or fen), landscape matrix (agrarian or grassland) and vegetation (species richness of all plants and invasive plants, and abundance of woody plants) on the true bug communities of 60 drainage ditches in the lowland of East-Central Europe. We found that substrate and landscape matrix contributed the most in determining true bug communities. Based on species composition, different substrates and landscape matrix types had distinct communities, but the trait composition showed differentiation according to the landscape matrix in saline habitats only. The trait composition in true bug communities was more diverse in grassland ditches than in agrarian ones, which hosted more habitat generalists associated with invasive vegetation. We concluded that a pronounced gradient in habitat stress, originating in substrate salinity and aridity, causes the differentiation of the true bug communities based on their trait composition. Additionally, intense habitat stress increases the number of habitat specialists and the conservation value of a drainage ditch.

ContextIntensive agricultural management practices and landscape homogenisation are the main drivers of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Agricultural fields are regularly disturbed and provide unstable habitats due to crop management regimes. This may lead to movement of arthropods into neighbouring non-arable habitats, as natural and semi-natural habitats provide suitable overwintering sites.ObjectivesHere we assessed the effect of landscape composition and configuration on the overwintering spider and carabid fauna of grassy field margins and hedgerows.MethodsWe sampled ground-dwelling arthropods at field edges of different types (grassy field margin and hedgerows), landscape composition (diverse and simple) and configuration (mosaic and large-scale agricultural landscapes).ResultsWe detected larger spiders in hedgerows than in grassy field margins and in complex landscapes rather than in simple landscapes. We found a significant effect of interaction between landscape composition and edge type on ballooning propensity of spiders. Agrobiont carabids were more abundant in field edges of compositionally simple and large-scale agricultural landscapes. Furthermore, we showed an effect of interaction between landscape composition and edge type on agrobiont spiders. We collected larger carabids in grassy field margins than in hedgerows and carabids were smaller in simple landscapes than in diverse landscapes. The spider community was affected by edge type, and landscape composition had a significant effect on the carabid community.ConclusionsSmall-scale agricultural landscapes may have higher overall densities of ground-dwelling spiders and carabids than large scale landscapes due to the relatively high edge density and the higher quantity of available overwintering sites.