Short term impacts of logging on invertebrate communities in jarrah forests in south-west Western Australia

The short term impacts of logging (clearing without post-harvest bums) on ground-dwelling invertebrate communities were integrated study (the Kingston Study) to determine the impacts of logging on a jarrah forest examined as part of a larger ecosystem in south-western Australia. Sampling followed a modified BACI design, where control and impact sites were sampled over a period of 22 months, before and after logging. No significant impacts on total invertebrate abundance and richness occurred as a result of logging. Furthermore, of the 35 class/orders identified, only five taxa, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Orthoptera were significantly affected, with Blattodea being the most severely affected. Retrospective power analysis showed that the design used had sufficient power (0.8+) to detect 30-40% change in total invertebrate abundance, Similarly, the design had high power to detect changes of 10-50% for most taxa. The impacts of logging were only of a short duration, with invertebrate communities in impact sites resembling those of control sites after 10 months. Multivariate analysis revealed that seasonal and inter-annual climatic effects appeared to be more important determinants of invertebrate community structure and function than logging impacts. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.