Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Diversity, Activity Density, and Community Structure in a Diversified Agroecosystem

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Hummel ◽  
L. M. Dosdall ◽  
G. W. Clayton ◽  
K. N. Harker ◽  
J. T. O'Donovan
2010 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bourassa ◽  
H.A. Cárcamo ◽  
J.R. Spence ◽  
R.E. Blackshaw ◽  
K. Floate

AbstractGround beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were sampled in conventional and genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) corn, Zea mays L. (Poaceae), planted under rotation with canola, Brassica L. (Brassicaceae), or continuously cropped corn to investigate the influence of corn variety and rotation on the structure of carabid assemblages. Corn variety, cultivation regime, and their interaction all influenced overall carabid activity density. Weed management associated with corn variety influenced the activity density of a few carabid species and this was attributed to changes in vegetation. Some smaller bodied carabids such as Bembidion quadrimaculatum L. were less abundant in GMHT plots, probably because weed density was higher in midseason, but the opposite was observed for larger bodied carabids such as Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger). Overall, rotating corn with canola had a stronger effect on carabid community structure than did corn variety. We suggest that GMHT corn has little impact on the overall carabid fauna but may influence the activity of certain species through effects on the weed community.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Zajicek ◽  
Ellen A. R. Welti ◽  
Nathan J. Baker ◽  
Kathrin Januschke ◽  
Oliver Brauner ◽  
...  

AbstractWhile much of global biodiversity is undoubtedly under threat, the responses of ecological communities to changing climate, land use intensification, and long-term changes in both taxonomic and functional diversity over time, has still not been fully explored for many taxonomic groups, especially invertebrates. We compiled time series of ground beetles covering the past two decades from 40 sites located in five regions across Germany. We calculated site-based trends for 21 community metrics representing taxonomic and functional diversity of ground beetles, activity density (a proxy for abundance), and activity densities of functional groups. We assessed both overall and regional temporal trends and the influence of the global change drivers of temperature, precipitation, and land use on ground beetle communities. While we did not detect overall temporal changes in ground beetle taxonomic and functional diversity, taxonomic turnover changed within two regions, illustrating that community change at the local scale does not always correspond to patterns at broader spatial scales. Additionally, ground beetle activity density had a unimodal response to both annual precipitation and land use. Limited temporal change in ground beetle communities may indicate a shifting baseline, where community degradation was reached prior to the start of our observation in 1999. In addition, nonlinear responses of animal communities to environmental change present a challenge when quantifying temporal trends.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 856-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayes B Goosey ◽  
Joseph T Smith ◽  
Kevin M O’Neill ◽  
David E Naugle

Abstract Terrestrial arthropods are a critical component of rangeland ecosystems that convert primary production into resources for higher trophic levels. During spring and summer, select arthropod taxa are the primary food of breeding prairie birds, of which many are imperiled in North America. Livestock grazing is globally the most widespread rangeland use and can affect arthropod communities directly or indirectly through herbivory. To examine effects of management on arthropod community structure and avian food availability, we studied ground-dwelling arthropods on grazed and ungrazed sagebrush rangelands of central Montana. From 2012 to 2015, samples were taken from lands managed as part of a rest-rotation grazing program and from idle lands where livestock grazing has been absent for over a decade. Bird-food arthropods were twice as prevalent in managed pastures despite the doubling of overall activity-density of arthropods in idle pastures. Activity-density on idled lands was largely driven by a tripling of detritivores and a doubling in predators. Predator community structure was simplified on idled lands, where Lycosid spiders increased by fivefold. In contrast, managed lands supported a more diverse assemblage of ground-dwelling arthropods, which may be particularly beneficial for birds in these landscapes if, for example, diversity promotes temporal stability in this critical food resource. Our results suggest that periodic disturbance may enhance arthropod diversity, and that birds may benefit from livestock grazing with periodic rest or deferment.


1997 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Pavuk ◽  
Foster F. Purrington ◽  
Charles E. Williams ◽  
Benjamin R. Stinner

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Mauro Gobbi ◽  
Marco Armanini ◽  
Teresa Boscolo ◽  
Roberta Chirichella ◽  
Valeria Lencioni ◽  
...  

The high altitude mountain slopes of the Dolomites (Italian Alps) are characterized by great habitat and landform heterogeneities. In this paper, we investigated the effect of a Nature 2000 habitat and landform types in driving the high altitude ground beetle (Carabidae) distribution in the Western Dolomites (Brenta group, Italy). We studied the carabid assemblages collected in 55 sampling points distributed in four Nature 2000 habitat types and four landform types located between 1860 and 2890 m above sea level (a.s.l.). Twenty-two species, half of them Alpine endemics, were sampled. Species richness and taxonomic distinctness did not show any significant difference among habitat types; conversely, these differences became significant when the landform type was considered. Total activity density and the frequency of brachypterous, endemic and predatory species showed significant differences between both habitat and landform types. An indicator species analysis identified twelve species linked to a specific habitat type and thirteen species linked to a specific landform type. A canonical correspondence analysis showed that altitude and vegetation cover drove the species distribution in each habitat and landform type while the aspect had a weak effect. Our results highlight the need for a geomorphological characterization of the sampling points when high altitude ground-dwelling arthropods are investigated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Jana Růžičková ◽  
Sándor Bérces ◽  
Szlávko Ackov ◽  
Zoltán Elek

Activity density is one of the most common measures for ground-dwelling arthropods including carabids. The term refers to the empirical fact that pitfall trap catches depend on the individuals’ activity; the higher activity of the individuals, the more catches in the traps. Although the movement at the individual level is widely studied, there is no available evidence whether the individual movement can be a good proxy for activity density. In our study, we aimed to explore this link in two ground beetle species, Carabus scheidleri and C. coriaceus, in oak-hornbeam forest in Hungary. We used pitfall traps for activity density and capture-mark-recapture and radio telemetry to record individual movement patterns in different forestry treatments, preparation cuttings and clear-cuttings, and their control plots. We identified an indirect link between activity density and movement of individuals via treatment types. Although activity density, mean walking speed, and the proportion of active time were significantly higher in both treatments than in control plots, individual movement reveals only temporal use of these habitats. Beetles left treatments within a few days. We concluded that the high turnover of individuals in treatments might indirectly suggest that these habitats likely act as temporary foraging sites for both species.


2011 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonomi SHIBUYA ◽  
Kohei KUBOTA ◽  
Masahiko OHSAWA ◽  
Zaal KIKVIDZE

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doreen E. Davis ◽  
Sara A. Gagné

BackgroundFew studies of edge effects on wildlife objectively identify habitat edges or explore non-linear responses. In this paper, we build on ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) research that has begun to address these domains by using triangulation wombling to identify boundaries in beetle community structure and composition at the edges of forest patches with residential developments. We hypothesized that edges are characterized by boundaries in environmental variables that correspond to marked discontinuities in vegetation structure between maintained yards and forest. We expected environmental boundaries to be associated with beetle boundaries.MethodsWe collected beetles and measured environmental variables in 200 m by 200 m sampling grids centered at the edges of three forest patches, each with a rural, suburban, or urban context, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. We identified boundaries within each grid at two spatial scales and tested their significance and overlap using boundary statistics and overlap statistics, respectively. We complemented boundary delineation withk-means clustering.ResultsBoundaries in environmental variables, such as temperature, grass cover, and leaf litter depth, occurred at or near the edges of all three sites, in many cases at both scales. The beetle variables that exhibited the most pronounced boundary structure in relation to edges were total species evenness, generalist abundance, generalist richness, generalist evenness, andAgonum punctiformeabundance. Environmental and beetle boundaries also occurred within forest patches and residential developments, indicating substantial localized spatial variation on either side of edges. Boundaries in beetle and environmental variables that displayed boundary structure at edges significantly overlapped, as did boundaries on either side of edges. The comparison of boundaries and clusters revealed that boundaries formed parts of the borders of patches of similar beetle or environmental condition.DiscussionWe show that edge effects on ground beetle community structure and composition and environmental variation at the intersection of forest patches and residential developments can be described by boundaries and that these boundaries overlap in space. However, our results also highlight the complexity of edge effects in our system: environmental boundaries were located at or near edges whereas beetle boundaries related to edges could be spatially disjunct from them; boundaries incompletely delineated edges such that only parts of edges were well-described by sharp transitions in beetle and/or environmental variables; and the occurrence of boundaries related to edges was apparently influenced by individual property management practices, site-specific characteristics such as development geometry, and spatial scale.


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