Responses of grassland invertebrates to management by cutting. III. Adverse effects on Auchenorhyncha.
Abstract
The responses of Auchenorhyncha to management by cutting of calcareous Arrhenatherum-dominated grassland were examined in a field experiment in eastern England. Twenty-three species showed a significant difference in their abundance between treatments, though not all were consistent in time. Cutting in May reduced adult populations in few species, single-brooded species with an early summer emergence of adults being most affected. Cutting in July severely reduced numbers of most species. Differences between the effects of a single cut in July and cutting in both May and July were few. The effects of cutting in May were generally short-lived, but those of the July cut persisted, often through the winter into spring. Progressive declines were recorded in many species in 1973-75, especially in treated plots but also in untreated ones. Possible reasons for this are discussed. The findings support earlier findings for the management of grassland nature reserves.