Author(s): Magura, T., Tóthmérész, B. & Elek, Z.
Title: Effects of leaf-litter addition on carabid beetles in a non-native Norway spruce plantation
Year: 2004
Volume: 50
Pages: 9-23.
Abstract: To study the short-term effect of leaf-litter manipulation on the structure of carabid assemblage in a 50-year-old Norway spruce plantation in Hungary, pitfall samples from leaf-litter plots (leaf-litter addition) and control plots (no manipulation) were compared during the growing season in 2000. The most frequent species, Pterostichus oblongopunctatus, was significantly more numerous in the leaf-litter samples than in the control ones, indicating the leaf-litter preference of this species. Leaf-litter addition had no significant effect on the abundance of the other four dominant carabid species (Carabus violaceus, Cychrus caraboides, Abax parallelepipedus, Molops piceus). Difference in the number of collected carabid individuals, species richness and the Shannon diversity between the control and the manipulated plots were not significant. The observed leaf-litter preference of Pterostichus oblongopunctatus could be explained with the microhabitat variations and/or the interspecific interactions. Leaf-litter addition altered the microclimatic conditions (lower ground temperature, higher amount of prey items) and produced favourable microhabitat conditions that could influence the spatial distribution of Pterostichus oblongopunctatus. Moreover, the number of carabid larvae was significantly higher in the leaf-litter plots, indicating that the leaf-litter plots with their favourable conditions may be advantageous egg-laying sites.
Keywords: carabid beetles, leaf-litter addition, habitat heterogeneity, spatial distribution, environmental conditions, interspecific interactions
Journal: Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Journal abbreviation:
ISSN: 1217-8837
Publisher: Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest
Editor(s): Matskási, I., Bottyán, O., Peregovits, L. & Tabell, J.
