Responses of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages to stand characteristics and landscape structure in riparian poplar forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binli Wang ◽  
Chengming Tian ◽  
Yingmei Liang ◽  
Weihang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Stand Characteristics

scholarly journals Wpływ zróżnicowania użytkowania krajobrazowego na cechy zgrupowań biegaczowatych (Coleoptera: Carabidae) obszarów rolnych = Effects of the diversity of landscape use on the characteristics of farmland ground-beetle assemblages

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-364
Author(s):  
Jerzy Solon ◽  
Edyta Regulska
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Ground Beetles ◽  
Soil Reaction ◽  
Lake District ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Species Richness And Diversity ◽  
Small Fields

We studied the effects of landscape structure and agricultural land-use on ground beetles (Carabidae) in a temperate farmland mosaic and homogeneous landscape. The research was carried out at twelve research sites located in two regional units, i.e. (a) the northern part of mesoregion 842.72 West Lake District in the macroregion of the Lithuanian Lake District and (b) in the southern part of mesoregion 313.44 Damnicka Upland, within the macroregion of the Koszalin Coastland. By administrative division, these positions are respectively: in the gmina of Dubeninki, voivodeship of Warmian-Masury (Rogajny and Łoje), and in the gmina of Przerośl in Podlasie voivodeship (Rakówek) – hereinafter referred to collectively as the “Dubeninki area”; as well as in the gmina of Potęgowo in the Pomeranian Voivodship (villages of Wieliszewo, Malczkowo, Darżyno and Darżynko – hereinafter referred to as the “Potęgowo area”). Four of the research sites were located in fields of large area, and four in complexes of small fields subject to traditional cultivation. The faunistic data comes from 12 transects (6 for each regional unit and 3 for each field type – large-area fields and complexes of small fields) using standard trapping methods (Barber˙s traps). A set of landscape-structure indicators adapted to the local scale of the study was then applied. Results point to a relationship between the structure of the landscape, the expressed number of patches of plant communities, the diversity of vegetation in the surroundings and the presence of trees in the landscape, and species richness and diversity of ground beetles. Where agricultural areas nevertheless have a diversified landscape these are characterised by greater species richness of Carabidae than homogeneous areas. Furthermore, the shorter the distance to the nearest tree, the greater the species richness and diversity of Carabidae. However, soil type, as well as soil diversity, at a study site and its vicinity are not found to exert a direct impact on the species richness of Carabidae. Different soil types may be characterised by similar grain size, and thus similar humidity conditions and soil reaction, with these in turn determining other habitat conditions of importance to the studied taxon.

A distribution atlas of legally protected ground beetle species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) occurring in the Łódź Province, central Poland

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Radomir Jaskuła ◽  
Anna Stępień ◽  
Przemysław Włodarczyk ◽  
Iwona Słowińska-Krysiak
Keyword(s):  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Beetle Species ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
Distribution Atlas

scholarly journals Nidicolous beetle species richness is driven by Barn Owl’s nests occupancy and landscape structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Cosandey ◽  
Robin Séchaud ◽  
Paul Béziers ◽  
Yannick Chittaro ◽  
Andreas Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Arthropod Community ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Nest Boxes ◽  
Bird Droppings ◽  
Barn Owls

AbstractBird nests are specialized habitats because of their particular composition including nest detritus and bird droppings. In consequence, they attract a specialized arthropod community considered as nidicolous, which includes species only found in bird nests (strictly nidicolous) or sometimes found in bird nests (facultatively nidicolous). Because the factors influencing the entomofauna in bird nests are poorly understood, in autumn 2019, we collected nest material in 86 Barn Owl (Tyto alba) nest boxes. We investigated whether the invertebrate species richness was related to Barn Owl nest box occupancy, the density of available nest boxes and the landscape structure. We found 3,321 nidicolous beetle specimens belonging to 24 species. Species richness of strictly nidicolous beetles was 2.7 times higher in nest boxes occupied by a family of Barn Owls the previous spring compared to unoccupied nest boxes. It was also higher in sites that were more often occupied by Barn Owls in the five previous years and in areas surrounded by a higher proportion of crop fields. For facultatively nidicolous beetles, the density of Barn Owl nest boxes enhanced the species richness. In conclusion, our study suggests that the strictly nidicolous beetles benefit from occupied nest boxes of Barn Owls, whereas facultatively nidicolous beetles look for nest boxes independently of whether Barn Owls occupy them. Our study highlights the importance of bird nests for a suite of invertebrates.

scholarly journals Relicts from Glacial Times: The Ground Beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the Austrian Alps

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Paill ◽  
Stephan Koblmüller ◽  
Thomas Friess ◽  
Barbara-Amina Gereben-Krenn ◽  
Christian Mairhuber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Austrian Alps ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Limited Dispersal

The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for many cold-adapted species with a limited dispersal ability and can be found in many invertebrate taxa, including ground beetles. The ground beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 of the subgenus Bothriopterus was previously known to have a holarctic-circumpolar distribution, in Europe reaching its southern borders in Wales and southern Scandinavia. Here, we report the first findings of this species from the Austrian Ötztal Alps, representing also the southernmost edge of its currently known distribution, confirmed by the comparison of morphological characters to other Bothriopterus species and DNA barcoding data. Molecular data revealed a separation of the Austrian and Finish specimens with limited to no gene flow at all. Furthermore, we present the first data on habitat preference and seasonality of P. adstrictus in the Austrian Alps.

Nickel oxide nanoparticles induce genotoxicity and cellular alterations in the ground beetle Blaps polycresta (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

2021 ◽  
pp. 074823372110009
Author(s):  
Dalia Abdel Moneim Kheirallah ◽  
Awatef Mohamed Ali ◽  
Salah Eldein Osman ◽  
Amal Mohamed Shouman
Keyword(s):  
Nickel Oxide ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Biological Tissues ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Sublethal Dose ◽  
Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Nio Nps ◽  
The Impact

Nickel nanoparticles (Ni-NPs) have advantageous applications in the industry; however, little is known of their adverse effects on biological tissues. In the present study, the ground beetle Blaps polycresta was employed as a sensitive indicator for nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) toxicity. Adult male beetles were injected with six dose levels of NiO-NPs (0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, and 0.06 mg/g body weight). Mortality was reported daily over 30 days under laboratory conditions to establish an LD50. Nickel was detected in the testicular tissues of the beetles using X-ray analysis and transmission electronic microscopy. Beetles treated with the sublethal dose of 0.02 mg/g were selected to observe molecular, cellular, and subcellular changes. Gene transcripts of HSP70, HSP90, and MT1 were found to be increased >2.5-, 1.5-, and 2-fold, respectively, in the treated group compared with the controls. Decreased gene expression of AcPC01, AcPC02, and AcPC04 (≤1.5-, ≤2-, and < 2.5-fold, respectively, vs. controls) also were reported in the treated group. Under light microscopy, various structural changes were observed in the testicular tissues of the treated beetles. Ultrastructure observations using scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed severe damage to the subcellular organelles as well as deformities of the heads and flagella of the spermatozoa. Therefore, the present study postulated the impact of NiO-NPs in an ecological model.

scholarly journals Landscape structure affects the sunflower visiting frequency of insect pollinators

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Károly Lajos ◽  
Ferenc Samu ◽  
Áron Domonkos Bihaly ◽  
Dávid Fülöp ◽  
Miklós Sárospataki
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Edge Density ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Mass Flowering ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Pollinator Community ◽  
Foraging Ranges

AbstractMass-flowering crop monocultures, like sunflower, cannot harbour a permanent pollinator community. Their pollination is best secured if both managed honey bees and wild pollinators are present in the agricultural landscape. Semi-natural habitats are known to be the main foraging and nesting areas of wild pollinators, thus benefiting their populations, whereas crops flowering simultaneously may competitively dilute pollinator densities. In our study we asked how landscape structure affects major pollinator groups’ visiting frequency on 36 focal sunflower fields, hypothesising that herbaceous semi-natural (hSNH) and sunflower patches in the landscape neighbourhood will have a scale-dependent effect. We found that an increasing area and/or dispersion of hSNH areas enhanced the visitation of all pollinator groups. These positive effects were scale-dependent and corresponded well with the foraging ranges of the observed bee pollinators. In contrast, an increasing edge density of neighbouring sunflower fields resulted in considerably lower visiting frequencies of wild bees. Our results clearly indicate that the pollination of sunflower is dependent on the composition and configuration of the agricultural landscape. We conclude that an optimization of the pollination can be achieved if sufficient amount of hSNH areas with good dispersion are provided and mass flowering crops do not over-dominate the agricultural landscape.

scholarly journals Disentangling the Ecological Determinants of Species and Functional Trait Diversity in Herb-Layer Plant Communities in European Temperate Forests

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 552
Author(s):  
Janez Kermavnar ◽  
Lado Kutnar ◽  
Aleksander Marinšek
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Herb Layer ◽  
Bud Bank ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Stand Characteristics

Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity on ecological determinants related to soil properties, climatic parameters, forest stand characteristics, and topographic and abiotic and biotic factors associated with forest floor structure. The study was conducted in different forest types in Slovenia, using vegetation and environmental data from 50 monitoring plots (400 m2 each) belonging to the ICP Forests Level I and II network. The main objective was to first identify significant ecological predictors and then quantify their relative importance. Species richness was strongly determined by forest stand characteristics, such as richness of the shrub layer, tree layer shade-casting ability as a proxy for light availability and tree species composition. It showed a clear positive relation to soil pH. Variation in herb-layer cover was also best explained by forest stand characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by structural factors such as moss cover. Species evenness was associated with tree species composition, shrub layer cover and soil pH. Various ecological determinants were decisive for the diversity of below-ground traits, i.e., clonal and bud bank traits. For these two trait groups we observed a substantial climatic signal that was completely absent for taxonomy-based measures of diversity. In contrast, above-ground leaf-height-seed (LHS) traits were driven exclusively by soil reaction and nitrogen availability. In synthesis, local stand characteristics and soil properties acted as the main controlling factors for both species and trait diversity in herb-layer communities across Slovenia, confirming many previous studies. Our findings suggest that the taxonomic and functional facets of herb-layer vegetation are mainly influenced by a similar set of ecological determinants. However, their relative importance varies among individual taxonomy- and functional trait-based diversity measures. Integrating multi-faceted approaches can provide complementary information on patterns of herb-layer diversity in European forest plant communities.

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