Analysis of the richness of Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) on different scales of a sub-Andean rural landscape in Colombia

Abstract

In the mid-watershed of the Nima River in the Colombian Central Cordillera, the richness of staphylinids was estimated in association with 35 landscape elements classified as mature forest, secondary forest, riparian corridors, pastures and cypress plantations. For each element, two linear transects were traced, each one with six sample units, consisting of a pitfall trap and a 1 m 2 sample of leaf litter, processed in mini-Winkler sacks. There were 2623 specimens grouped into 139 recognizable taxonomic units; 13 subfamilies were recorded: Pselaphinae, Aleocharinae, Paederinae, Staphylininae, Tachyporinae, Osoriinae, Oxytelinae, Piestinae, Scaphidiinae, Euaesthetinae, Megalopsidiinae, Steninae and Omaliinae. The subfamilies with the greatest richness were Pselaphinae (40 species), Aleocharinae (39) and Paederinae (22). The highest number of species was found in the secondary forests (105 species), followed by the riparian corridors (98); whereas the mature forest was the element with the fewest species (30). The diversity of species components (a, b and c) was analyzed using the additive partition model based on four spatial scales: sampling units, transects, elements and types of vegetative cover. The elements and types of ground cover scales were the main contributors to total richness percentages. The subfamilies Aleocharinae, Paederinae, Pselaphinae and Staphylininae had component diversity patterns that were equal to the overall assemblage. A significant correlation of the richness of each subfamily with that of the assemblage was found.

High diversity beetle assemblages attracted to carrion and dung in threatened tropical oak forests in Southern Mexico

“…Conversely, in fragmented tropical areas (like in San Fernando) certain vegetation types such as ravines constituted potential refuges for insect fauna. These results are in line with previous findings with beetle groups in which certain pieces of land represent key elements for population persistence (Gibbs and Stanton 2001;Halffter and Arellano 2002;Caballero et al 2009;Vásquez-Vélez et al 2010). In these fragmented landscapes, carrion of small mammals, amphibians, birds and reptilians-which tend to concentrate in oak forest remnants-became the primary source of food for necrophile populations.…”

“…Sometimes studies narrowly focus on Scarabaeinae dung beetle assessments (see Nichols et al 2007), whereas only a limited number of surveys have considered the assessment of others key groups such as carrion beetles (Silphidae; e. g. Gibbs and Stanton 2001;Trumbo and Bloch 2000;Wolf and Gibbs 2004;Creighton et al 2009) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae; e.g. Pohl et al 2007;Caballero et al 2009;Vásquez-Vélez et al 2010). It would therefore be extremely important to quantify comparative responses of the copro-necrophile beetle communities particularly in Neotropical systems, where, to our knowledge, no attempt has been made to do so, and where a complete understanding on the effects of habitat fragmentation and on the relative importance of habitat type and conditions on complex guilds are needed for effective management and conservation.…”

Cross-taxon congruence of α and β diversity among five leaf litter arthropod groups in Colombia

“…We applied the sampling protocol used to characterize the diversity of ants and staphylinids in rural landscapes of the Andean region (Jiménez et al 2008;Abadía et al 2010;Vásquez-Velez et al 2010) and the Cauca River geographic (Arcila-Cardona et al 2008). For each sampling patch two 50-m linear transects were marked and separated by a distance of no less than 50 m. Both transects included six sampling units, set up every 10 m and consisting of two methods of capture: mini-Winkler sacks and pitfall traps, placed parallel to the transect and separated by 10 m. In total, the sampling effort included 39 sampling patches, 78 transects and 468 sampling units.…”

“…In this context the assessment of biodiversity indicators on multiple scales has gained great momentum over the last decade (Caro and O'doherty 1999;Duelli and Obrist 2003;Wolters et al 2006;McGeoch 2007). In particular, different arthropod groups have attracted interest as potential indicators of biodiversity because of their significant contribution to global species richness, biomass and a large variety of ecological functions and lifestyles (Kotze and Samways 1999;Moritz et al 2001;Sauberer et al 2004;Schulze et al 2004;Lovell et al 2007;Basset et al 2008a, b;Kessler et al 2009;Maleque et al 2009;Uehara-Prado et al 2009;Finch and Löffler 2010;Leal et al 2010;Vásquez-Velez et al 2010).…”

Digestion, growth and reproductive performance of the zoophytophagous rove beetle Philonthus quisquiliarius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) fed on animal and plant based diets

“…Staphylinidae is one of the largest beetle families with more than 47,000 species distributed worldwide in a wide range of ecosystems (Vásquez-Vélez et al, 2010). Most rove beetles, such as those species of the genus Philonthus, are primarily considered carnivorous and have been reported to play an important role as predators in agroecosystems (Hu and Frank, 1997;Balog et al, 2008;Vankosky et al, 2011).…”