Diversity of ground beetles (Carabidae) in the plantations of fast growing trees

Abstract

The species diversity of ground beetles (Carabidae) was monitored in the plantations of fast growing trees (poplars and willows) in the District of Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech Republic (faunistic square 6463). Relations between age and type of vegetation and biodiversity were observed. Samples were collected from pitfall traps at monthly intervals from May to October in 2008. In total, 36 species of Carabidae represented by 912 specimens were entrapped in the 4 monitored plots. Basic synecologic characteristics (dominance, species diversity, evenness and Jaccard similarity index) were evaluated. The most numerous species in the plot No. 1 was Abax parallelepipedus (99 specimens), in the plot No. 2 Limodromus assimilis (112 specimens), in the plot No. 3 Amara montivaga (32 specimens) and in the plot No. 4 Poecilus cupreus (52 specimens). The majority of adaptable species was recorded in the plot No. 1, which signifies a well-regenerated secondary biotope. Shannon’s diversity index (2.78) were the highest in the plot No. 3, and the highest evenness was also in the plot No.​ 3 (0.84). The highest similarity expressed by the Jaccard similarity index was observed between the plots No. 2 and 4, the lowest between the plots No. 1 and 3. Fast growing trees plantations host similar fauna of ground beetles as the surrounding agroecosystems with eurytopic species dominating. Specific species of cultivated trees do not probably significantly affect the species composition of ground beetles, but the density of vegetation can affect the abundance of species present. Two threatened species of (Brachinus explodens and Cicindela campestris) according to Decree No. 395/1992 Coll. were identified in the monitored plots.