Comparison of Ground Beetle Communities (Coleoptera: Carabidae) between Coniferous and Deciduous Forests in Agricultural Landscapes

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the community structure of ground beetles between coniferous-and deciduous-dominant forest in agricultural landscapes, in Miryang-si, Yeongdong-gun, Icheon-si, and Cheolwon-gun during April to October in 2009. A total of 19 species belonging to 15 genera of 9 subfamilies were identified from 6,253 collected ground beetles. Dominant species from 4 regions were Synuchus nitidus (3,715 individuals, 59.4% of total) and Synuchus cyloderus (1,783 individuals, 28.5%) respectively. Non-metric multidimensional scaling based on Bray-Curtis similarity showed that ground beetle assemblage was not different between forest stands, but it was significantly different among regions. Overall, forest stands of secondary forests may not show a different community structure of ground beetle assemblages in our study. However, monitoring on the ground beetle fauna as well as other arthropods of secondary forests in agricultural landscapes is still important for the management and conservation of biodiversity, because forests provides important habitats for many predatory arthropods, such as ground beetles, spiders and rove beetles.

Trait-Specific Responses of Carabid Beetle Diversity and Composition in Pinus densiflora Forests Compared to Broad-Leaved Deciduous Forests in a Temperate Region

“…in Korea, is poorly understood despite successful reforestation since the 1970s. In human-dominated landscapes, the diversity and composition of carabid beetles [8][9][10][11] and moths [12] in coniferous forests (mainly P. densiflora) have been investigated and compared to those in secondary mixed forests. In mountains in temperate regions, the effects of forest types on moths [13,14] and carabids [15][16][17] have been compared.…”

“…Differences in carabid communities among forest types have been occasionally observed due to the effects of habitat fragmentation [8,11] and landscape heterogeneity [10]. However, the species diversity and composition of moths [13,14] and carabids [9,[15][16][17] in coniferous plantations are generally similar to those in secondary or natural forests, except that the species richness of all carabid beetles is increased in regenerating deciduous forests [10]. In temperate regions, few studies have considered the ecological and biological traits of carabid beetles to compare diversity between forest types, such as habitat type [10,11], body size [10], and wing morphs [10,11,17].…”