However, in my opinion, this issue has little consequence on the results obtained as the clear-cutting effect and post-windstorm effect were compared only for the species that were present in the two study periods. This leads to the conclusion that possible changes in the structure

#learn more randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# of the communities should not influence the comparison. It is also significant that the data on the scuttle fly communities were obtained ca. 3 years after disturbances (a similar stage of secondary succession with similar aboveground-belowground interactions) in all the study plots (De Deyn, Van der Putten 2005). Changes in species-specific habitat preferences over the 20 year period are also rather unlikely. Therefore, it is assumed that the species-specific similarity in response to disturbances remains reliable. Several species were present that preferred the disturbed areas and several others were found to be more numerous in the intact forest. Similar patterns of diversified responses were recorded PLX-4720 for several other taxonomic groups that inhabit disturbed forest areas (Garbalińska and Skłodowski 2008; Koivula et al. 2006; Maeto and Sato 2004; Żmihorski and Durska 2011). The results showed that clearcutting

and windstorm (open-area plots) had a major ecological impact on the scuttle fly communities and divided them into two separate groups compared to intact forest oxyclozanide (old-growth plots) (see Fig. 2). As a consequence, the plots covering the same habitat in different forest complexes and located hundreds of kilometers apart displayed greater similarity than adjacent plots (less than 1 km apart) covering different habitats. The conclusion remains in

accordance with results obtained from similar research on carabids (Heliöla et al. 2001; Brouat et al. 2004; Skłodowski 2006); ants (Maeto and Sato 2004) and spiders (Halaj et al. 2008; Mallis and Hurd 2005). In a broader ecological context the results seem to confirm the major impact of forest management on the biodiversity of the ecosystem (Huston 1994; Maeto and Sato 2004). The response of the flies to disturbances (anthropogenic and natural) was species-specific. The species richness of the scuttle fly communities of young pine plantations and post-windstorm habitats was remarkably similar and less than half that of the old-growth stands of the forests (Table 1; Fig. 3). This leads to a suggestion that the groups of winners and losers of the clearcutting and post-windstorm effects can be predicted. A similar pattern seems to be borne out for other groups of insects of disturbed habitats, e.g. ants (Maeto and Sato 2004) and carabids (Skłodowski and Garbalińska 2007). It is worth noting that both the females (not included in the analyses) of scuttle flies and two species complexes (M. giraudii-complex and M. pulicaria-complex) could conceal a large number of unidentified species.