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Forests contribute to numerous ecosystem functions and services and contain a large proportion of terrestrial biodiversity, but they are being negatively impaced by anthropogenic activities. Forests that have never been clear‐cut and have old growth characteristics, termed "near‐natural," often harbor different and richer species assemblages than managed forests. Alternative management strategies may be able to balance the needs of biodiversity with the demands of forestry, but evaluation efforts are limited by the challenges of measuring biodiversity. Species richness is frequently used as a simple measure of biodiversity, but research indicates that it may not adequately capture community‐level changes. Alternatively, trait‐based measures of biodiversity may prove to be useful, but research is lacking. In this paper, we use a large dataset that includes 339 obligate saproxylic beetle species collected over a decade in the boreal region throughout southern Norway to: (1) establish if there is a difference in beetle community composition between near‐natural and managed forests; and (2) determine which measures of beetle biodiversity best indicate forest naturalness. We arranged the sites in an ordination space and tested for differences in community composition between these forest types. We also tested different measures of biodiversity to determine which were the most predictive of forest naturalness. We found a clear difference in community composition between near‐natural and managed forests. Additionally, three measures of biodiversity were most predictive of forest naturalness: proportional abundance of predators, community weighted mean (CWM) of wing length, and CWM of body roundness. The probability that a forest was near‐natural increased with the proportional abundance of predators but decreased with CWM wing length and body roundness. Although species richness was higher in near‐natural forests, the effect was not significant. Overall, our findings underscore the conservation value of near‐natural forests and highlight the potential of several measures of biodiversity for determining forest quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implications, yet inferences are seldom compared among metrics. Community‐weighted mean trait values (CWMs), a common measure, are largely driven by the most common species and thus do not reflect community‐wide trait–niche relationships per se. Alternatively, trait–niche relationships can be estimated across a larger group of species using hierarchical joint species distribution models (JSDMs), quantified by a parameter Γ. We investigated how inferences about trait–niche relationships are affected by the choice of metric. Using deadwood‐dependent (saproxylic) beetles in fragmented Finnish forests, we followed a protocol for investigating trait–niche relationships by (1) identifying environmental filters (climate, forest age, and deadwood volume), (2) relating these to an ecological function (dispersal ability), and (3) identifying traits related to this function (wing morphology). We tested 18 hypothesized dispersal relationships using both CWM and Γ estimates across these environmental gradients. CWMs were more likely than Γ to show support for trait–niche relationships. Up to 13% of species' realized niches were explained by dispersal traits, but the directions of effects were consistent with fewer than 11%–39% of our 18 trait–niche hypotheses (depending on the metric used). This highlights the difficulty in connecting morphological traits and ecological functions in insects, despite the clear conceptual link between landscape connectivity and flight‐related traits. Caution is thus warranted in hypothesis development, particularly where apparent trait–function links are less clear. Inferences differ when CWMs versus Γ estimates are used, necessitating the choice of a metric that reflects study questions. CWMs help explain the effects of environmental gradients on community trait composition, whereas the effects of traits on species' niches are better estimated using hierarchical JSDMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate, topography and the 3D structure of forests are major drivers affecting local species communities. However, little is known about how the specific functional traits of saproxylic (wood‐living) beetles, involved in the recycling of wood, might be affected by those environmental characteristics.Here, we combine ecological and morphological traits available for saproxylic beetles and airborne laser scanning (ALS) data in Bayesian trait‐based joint species distribution models to study how traits drive the distributions of more than 230 species in temperate forests of Europe.We found that elevation (as a proxy for temperature and precipitation) and the proportion of conifers played important roles in species occurrences while variables related to habitat heterogeneity and forest complexity were less relevant. Furthermore, we showed that local communities were shaped by environmental variation primarily through their ecological traits whereas morphological traits were involved only marginally. As predicted, ecological traits influenced species' responses to forest structure, and to other environmental variation, with canopy niche, wood decay niche and host preference as the most important ecological traits. Conversely, no links between morphological traits and environmental characteristics were observed. Both models, however, revealed strong phylogenetic signal in species' response to environmental characteristics.These findings imply that alterations of climate and tree species composition have the potential to alter saproxylic beetle communities in temperate forests. Additionally, ecological traits help explain species' responses to environmental characteristics and thus should prove useful in predicting their responses to future change. It remains challenging, however, to link simple morphological traits to species' complex ecological niches. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veteran trees are keystone structures and play vital roles in ecosystems. Tree hollows, which are filled with a mix of leaves and wood that is transformed by the biotic community into wood mould, represent an important microhabitat. Tree hollow communities consist of three major groups of organisms: microbes, mesofauna (nematodes, mites and springtails) and macrofauna (beetles, millipedes and other insects). Little is known about the interplay between associated biota and their importance for decomposition and wood mould production. The aim of this study was to test how initial food web complexity in artificial tree hollows influences community structure, decomposition, and wood mould production. We used large wooden boxes to imitate natural hollows, and mounted them on 20 veteran oaks in Southern Norway. The food webs were manipulated into three levels: (i) a complex community with macrofauna and mesofauna, (ii) a simple community without macrofauna, and (iii) only the defaunated material. Three boxes (one of each treatment, N = 60 boxes) were mounted on each oak and left in the field from May 2017 to October 2019 (28 months). After the field experiment, macrofauna and mesofauna were collected and identified, mass loss in the boxes was determined, and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the wood mould were measured. We found that the complex community treatment had the greatest diversity of beetles and the highest number of predatory macrofauna. The nematodes within the complex community treatment had greater trophic structuring with K‐selected species associated with stable conditions. The nematodes communities also indicated that the complex community had a balanced decomposition pathway, while the simple community was dominated by fungi and the defaunated community by bacteria. Lastly, we found that the boxes with the complex community treatment had the highest overall rate of mass loss, and greater amounts of wood mould with higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. Our results indicate that macrofauna in artificial hollows increase trophic structuring, enhance decomposition rates and wood mould production, and mediate the decomposition pathway. These findings highlight the importance of food web complexity for promoting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in veteran tree hollows. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insects are a hyper diverse and ecologically important group. Their high diversity, however, presents challenges in sampling methodology, because rare species are unreliably detected with low sampling effort. However, the relationship between effort and species detections, critical for effective monitoring and evaluation of population trends, is too seldom quantified.We sampled forest beetles for 3 months in a 4‐ha stand of mixed deciduous forest in southeastern Norway using 110 flight intercept (four types) and Malaise traps, the highest trap density (29 traps ha−1) that we have seen reported. We examined species accumulation curves to quantify the benefits of each additional trap, compared capture rates among several trap designs and trap emptying frequencies, and tested for spatial autocorrelation.In total, we captured 566 beetle taxa (19 854 individuals) from 52 families, yet our species accumulation curve was only beginning to flatten. Trap types differed considerably in their effectiveness. Nevertheless, 20 of our most effective window traps detected 75% of all taxa in our dataset. We found no evidence of spatial correlation within the scale of the study (100 m radius), nor did trap‐level forest covariates (5 m radius) explain much variation.This implies that low‐to‐moderate sampling effort dramatically underestimates species richness, but that a limited number of effective traps can nonetheless achieve relatively thorough sampling for some applications. Immediate trap surroundings and spacing appeared unimportant. Insect ecologists should take particular care in selecting trap types, and be cautious comparing studies that employed different trap types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of traits in beetle community assembly and test for consistency in these effects among several bioclimatic regions. We asked (1) whether traits predicted species' responses to environmental gradients (i.e. their niches), (2) whether these same traits could predict co-occurrence patterns and (3) how consistent were niches and the role of traits among study regions. Location: Boreal forests in Norway and Finland, temperate forests in Germany. Taxon: Wood-living (saproxylic) beetles. Methods: We compiled capture records of 468 wood-living beetle species from the three regions, along with nine morphological and ecological species traits. Eight climatic and forest covariates were also collected. We used Bayesian hierarchical joint species distribution models to estimate the influence of traits and phylogeny on species' niches. We also tested for correlations between species associations and trait similarity. Finally, we compared species niches and the effects of traits among study regions. Results: Traits explained some of the variability in species' niches, but their effects differed among study regions. However, substantial phylogenetic signal in species niches implies that unmeasured but phylogenetically structured traits have a stronger effect. Degree of trait similarity was correlated with species associations but depended idiosyncratically on the trait and region. Species niches were much more consistent--widespread taxa often responded similarly to an environmental gradient in each region. Main conclusions: The inconsistent effects of traits among regions limit their current use in understanding beetle community assembly. Phylogenetic signal in niches, however, implies that better predictive traits can eventually be identified. Consistency of species niches among regions means niches may remain relatively stable under future climate and land use changes; this lends credibility to predictive distribution models based on future climate projections but may imply that species' scope for short-term adaptation is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Veteran hollow trees are keystone structures in ecosystems and provide important habitat for a diverse set of organisms, many of which are involved in the process of decomposition. Since veteran trees are 'islands' of high biodiversity, they provide a unique system in which to study the relationship between biodiversity and decomposition of wood. We tested this relationship with a balanced experiential design, where we quantified the taxonomic and functional diversity of beetles directly involved in the process of decomposing wood, and measured the decomposition of experimentally added bundles of small diameter wood around 20 veteran trees and 20 nearby young trees in southern Norway. We found that the diversity (both taxonomic and functional) of wood-decomposing beetles was significantly higher around the veteran trees, and beetle communities around veteran trees consisted of species with a greater preference for larger diameter wood. We extracted few beetles from the experimentally added wood bundles, regardless of the tree type that they were placed near, but decomposition rates were significantly lower around veteran trees. We speculate that slower decomposition rates around veteran trees could have been a result of a greater diversity of competing fungi, which has been found to decrease decay rates. Veteran trees provide an ecological legacy within anthropogenic landscapes, enhance biodiversity and influence wood decomposition. Actions to protect veteran trees are urgently needed in order to save these valuable organisms and their associated biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, many insect populations are declining, prompting calls for action. Yet these findings have also prompted discussion about sampling methods and interpretation of long‐term datasets. As insect monitoring and research efforts increase, it is critical to quantify the effectiveness of sampling methods. This is especially true if sampling biases of different methods covary with climate, which is also changing over time. We assess the effectiveness of two types of flight intercept traps commonly used for beetles, a diverse insect group responsible for numerous ecosystem services, under different climatic conditions in Norwegian boreal forest. One of these trap designs includes a device to prevent rainwater from entering the collection vial, diluting preservatives and flushing out beetles. This design is compared to a standard trap. We ask how beetle capture rates vary between these traps, and how these differences vary based on precipitation levels and beetle body size, an important species trait. Bayesian mixed models reveal that the standard and modified traps differ in their beetle capture rates, but that the magnitude and direction of these differences change with precipitation levels and beetle body size. At low rainfall levels, standard traps catch more beetles, but as precipitation increases the catch rates of modified traps overtake those of standard traps. This effect is most pronounced for large‐bodied beetles. Sampling methods are known to differ in their effectiveness. Here, we present evidence for a less well‐known but likely common phenomenon—an interaction between climate and sampling, such that relative effectiveness of trap types for beetle sampling differs depending on precipitation levels and species traits. This highlights a challenge for long‐term monitoring programs, where both climate and insect populations are changing. Sampling methods should be sought that eliminate climate interactions, any biases should be quantified, and all insect datasets should include detailed methodological metadata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successional processes can be observed for many organisms and resources, but most studies of succession have focused on plants. A general framework has been proposed, advocating that successional patterns in species turnover are predominantly driven by competition, dispersal or abiotic limitation, and that the patterning of species accumulation over time gives clues to which process is most influential in a given system. We applied this framework to succession in communities of wood-living beetles, utilizing ephemeral resources in the form of 60 experimentally created dead aspen high stumps. High stumps were created at sun-exposed sites (high ambient temperature; favourable abiotic conditions) and shaded sites (low ambient temperature; abiotically limiting conditions). The sites were intermixed, ensuring similar dispersal opportunities. Beetle species richness and abundance were monitored with flight interception traps over four consecutive years. Consistent with predictions from the tested framework, several beetle functional groups accumulated species more slowly at the unfavourable shaded sites than at the favourable exposed sites. Species richness at the exposed sites increased rapidly to a plateau, consistent with a limiting effect of competition on community development. Similar results were obtained for beetle abundance and community structure. Part of the variance in beetle community structure was jointly explained by habitat and fungal community composition, suggesting that differences in the composition and developmental rate of fungal communities in the two habitats contributed to the observed patterns. Targeted experimental studies are now required to decisively establish what processes underlie the contrasting successional trajectories in the two environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veteran trees are keystone structures currently in decline worldwide. In Europe, veteran oaks (Quercus spp.) are important habitat trees for wood-living beetles. Still, we have limited knowledge of the drivers determining the composition of these communities and the relevant spatial and temporal scales for these drivers. We collected beetles from 32 hollow oaks in two regions in Southern Norway along a coast-inland gradient paralleling historical onset of oak harvesting. We focused on species with different host-association to oak and identified the relative importance of processes working on different spatial scales, ranging from tree-scale to region-scale, as well as effects of the coast-inland gradient. We found all the spatial scales to influence the species composition, with a response to the coast-inland gradient and differences between the regions for all beetle groups. The tree scale was the most important scale for species mainly associated with oak, generalist species and the overall species composition—with bryophyte cover on the stem, depth of bark crevices and amount of wood mould as the most important variables. The close surroundings and forest variables on the landscape scale was most important for the beetle species restricted to broadleaf trees. Our study confirmed established knowledge, but also revealed new relationships between oak-associated beetles and relevant drivers on the tree and regional scale. As important responses of species mainly associated with oak or broadleaf trees were concealed when analyzing the total community, care should be taken not to base management recommendations on such overall, general patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that biodiversity is important for ecosystem functions. Thus, identification of habitat requirements essential for current species richness and abundance to persist is crucial. Hollow oaks (Quercus spp.) are biodiversity hot spots for deadwood‐dependent insect species, and the main objective of this paper was to test the effect of habitat history and current habitat distribution at various spatial scales on the associated beetle community. We used a gradient spanning 40 km from the coast to inland areas reflecting historical logging intensity (later and lower intensities inland) through 500 years in Southern Norway, to investigate whether the historical variation in oak density is influencing the structure of beetle communities in hollow oaks today. We trapped beetles in 32 hollow oaks along this gradient in forested and seminatural landscapes over two summers. We found higher species richness and total abundance inland consistent with our expectation based on historic logging intensity. Scale‐specific environmental variables also affected the response; beetle abundances were controlled by local conditions, whereas beetle species richness responded to habitat on the landscape scale. This indicates that long time continuity as well as large areas of favorable habitat is necessary to maintain beetle species richness through time in these highly long‐lasting structures. Large old trees are biodiversity hot spots that disappear globally at a faster rate than new ones are being recruited. In the present study, we demonstrate the importance of habitat history, spanning several centuries, and current habitat distribution to understand species richness and abundance of beetles in these long‐lasting habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body size correlates with a large number of species traits, and these relationships have frequently been used to explain patterns in populations, communities, and ecosystems. However, diverging patterns occur, and there is a need for more data on different taxa at different scales. Using a large dataset of 155,418 individual beetles from 588 species collected over 13 years of sampling in Norway, we have explored whether body size predicts abundance, seasonality, and phenology in insects. Seasonality is estimated here by flight activity period length and phenology by peak activity. We develop several methods to estimate these traits from low-resolution sampling data. The relationship between abundance and body size was significant and as expected; the smaller species were more abundant. However, smaller species tended to fly for longer periods of the summer and peaked in midsummer, while larger species were restricted to shorter temporal windows. Further analysis of repeated sampling from a single location suggested that smaller species had increased flight period lengths in warmer years, but larger species showed the opposite pattern. The results 1) indicate that smaller species are likely to be disproportionately valuable in ecological interactions, and 2) provide potential insights into the traits influencing the vulnerability of some larger species to disturbances and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Red-listed species are species of great conservation concern, but they are inherently difficult to observe. Therefore, prediction models for hotspots of such species would be very useful for biodiversity monitoring and management. 2. Red-listed species are ecologically heterogeneous, and they may be associated with many different environmental variables that may be more or less correlated. To overcome these challenges, we introduce a new technique to species richness modelling: Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR), a multivariate regression technique developed specifically for similar statistical problems in econometrics. 3. Partial Least Squares Regression models were developed for hotspots of red-listed beetles associated with oaks. In this system, environmental variables and the richness of red-listed species were often correlated. 4. Without exceptions, the PLSR performed better as prediction models than generalised linear models (GLM) and principal components regression (PCR). 5. Different combinations of variables associated with individual trees were important in continuous forest with a closed canopy and a natural understory vs. man-made wooded park landscapes. 6. Our results suggest that important variables related to hotspots for red-listed species in forests in forests are trees with cavities of intermediate size, as well as dead wood and broadleaved tree species other than oak in the surrounding forest. In parks, large trees with wood mould, but also other oak trees in the surroundings, seem to be important. 7. In conclusion, the PLSR models may be used to improve the prediction of species richness in the presence of many correlated predictors and thus improve biodiversity monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates how the placement and the different possible outcomes of a spruce retention tree affected species richness and assemblages of spruce-associated saproxylic beetles. In a field experiment in the boreal zone of central Norway, high stumps were created and compared with residual wood pieces (i.e. top boles with branches), in clear-cuts versus in forest edges. Flight interception traps were mounted close to the substrate. The results were analysed using rarefaction techniques, ordination (DCA) and anova. It was found that the placement of retention trees of spruce does matter: beetle assemblages were significantly different in stumps in the four treatments. For all species pooled, the species richness was higher in stumps in clear-cuts than in stumps or boles in the forest edge. Four red-listed species were more abundant near stumps than boles, and two red-listed species were more abundant in clear-cuts than forest edge. To cater for the variety of habitat preferences among forest beetles in managed forest, managers should leave both standing spruce trees (many of which will end up as windthrown, downed boles) and some high stumps (to secure some upright dead wood), in both exposed clear-cut and semi-shaded forest edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of flight interception traps (window traps) has been criticized for catching too many species without affinity to the immediate surroundings. We study aspen retention trees left for conservation reasons in a boreal forest in south-eastern Norway, and investigate how placement of window traps affects the beetle species assemblage, abundance of habitat specialists, saproxylic species and vagrant species. We also test the correlation between beetle trappings and beetle exit holes in wood. The window traps clearly responded to the immediate surroundings of the trap. Traps located on tree trunks had a different species assemblage than traps hanging freely. Traps mounted on trees caught more aspen associated beetles and less vagrant species than their free-hanging counterparts. The differences were larger when trees were dead than alive. There was a significant positive correlation between presence of individuals in the trunk-window traps and presence of exit holes for three aspen associated species. Thus, the trapping results indicated successful reproduction, showing that aspen associated beetles are not only attracted to but also utilise aspen retention trees/high stumps left in clear-cuts. This indicates that this conservation measure in forest management can have positive, alleviating effects concerning the dead wood deficit in managed boreal forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Many boreal forest saproxylic beetles strongly associated with a single tree species. • Oaks (Quercus sp.) in particular harbor many red-listed species. • Most saproxylic beetles are also associated with near-natural, vs. managed, forests. • Tree species is a better predictor of beetle communities than forest management. Wood-living beetles make up a large proportion of forest biodiversity and contribute to important ecosystem services, including decomposition. Beetle communities in managed southern boreal forests are less species rich than in natural and near-natural forest stands. In addition, many beetle species rely primarily on specific tree species. Yet, the associations between individual beetle species, forest management category, and tree species are seldom quantified, even for red-listed beetles. We compiled a beetle capture dataset from flight intercept traps placed on Norway spruce (Picea abies), oak (Quercus sp.), and Eurasian aspen (Populus tremulae) trees in 413 sites in mature managed forest, near-natural forest, and clear-cuts in southeastern Norway. We used joint species distribution models to estimate the strength of associations for 368 saproxylic beetle species (including 20 vulnerable, endangered, or critical red-listed species) for each forest management category and tree species. Tree species on which traps were mounted had the largest effect on beetle communities; oaks had the most highly associated beetle species, including most of the red-listed species, followed by Norway spruce and Eurasian aspen. Most beetle species were more likely to be captured in near-natural than in mature managed forest. Our estimated associations were compatible – for many species – with categorical classifications found in several existing databases of saproxylic beetle preferences. These quantitative beetle-habitat associations will improve future analyses that have typically relied on categorical classifications. Our results highlight the need to prioritize conservation of near-natural forests and oak trees in Scandinavia to protect the habitat of many red-listed species in particular. Furthermore, we underline the importance of carefully considering the species of trees on which traps are mounted in order to representatively sample beetle communities in forest stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predation of invertebrate pest by natural enemies is a critical contribution of nature to people, because invertebrate pests cause a vast amount of economic damage and pesticides use has many long-term costs. Veteran trees are keystone structures and hotspots for biodiversity, and are a potential source of natural enemies. To explore this, we used a balanced experimental design where we measured predatory beetle diversity and attack marks on three colors of artificial caterpillars placed around 20 veteran oaks and 20 nearby young oaks, in Southern Norway. We predicted that around the veteran oaks there would be a greater diversity of predatory beetles and more invertebrate attacks on artificial caterpillars. Sampling for predatory beetles was conducted in summer 2017 and 2018, and invertebrate attacks were measured in 2018. We found support for the predictions: diversity of predatory beetles was higher around veteran trees and there were more arthropod attack marks on artificial caterpillars placed around veteran trees. Our results indicated that veteran trees are a source of natural enemies. Valuing and protecting veteran trees and their communities is an essential step towards a more sustainable system of management that has the possibility of promoting both the wellbeing of people and biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Near-natural forests harbor richer beetle communities than managed forests. • This is the case for saproxylic, natural-forest indicator, and red-listed species. • This pattern holds true across multiple regions and project designs. • Landscape-scale forest age and volume, though difficult to assess, also play a part. • Conserving near-natural forest is critical for specialized & red-listed beetles. Globally, boreal forests cover 33 percent of Earth's forested area, constitute the largest terrestrial carbon source, and house an important biodiversity of forest-dependent species, many of which are saproxylic taxa reliant on a wide variety of dead wood. This dead wood is most prevalent in old-growth forest, yet intensive management means that little old growth is left, and the remaining forests rarely attain the necessary age and structure to resemble these original forests. There is increasing recognition, however, that forests that have not been subjected to modern, stand-replacing harvest methods (like clear-cutting), and in which management activities are no longer occurring, may be able to provide habitat similar to old-growth forest for many species (older mean age, higher deadwood volumes, and more age-class heterogeneity). These are called 'near-natural' forests. We use linear mixed models and redundancy analysis (RDA) to compare beetle species richness and community composition using a large, mixed data set, containing more than one third of all beetle species known from Norway, from window trap records in three types of forest: intensively managed mature stands, recent clear-cuts, and 'near-natural forests'. Even though location, study substrate and other sampling details vary substantially between sites, the signal from management still comes out as a significant factor explaining the patterns on beetle diversity. We find that species richness of saproxylic, natural-forest indicator, and red-listed beetle species is higher in both near-natural forests and recent clear-cuts than in managed mature forests. Community composition also differs significantly between the three forest types, and these differences are correlated with forest age and volume at the landscape (1 km radius) level. These findings provide support for the idea that near-natural forests provide habitats that are distinct from those in managed forests and which are important for species of conservation concern. Clear-cuts briefly harbor some of these same species, probably due to the sun-exposed coarse woody debris (CWD) that is available immediately after felling, but this effect is transient. Conservation of existing near-natural forests, many of which are currently without legal protection, should therefore be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]