Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of rice field banks and restored habitats in an agricultural area of the Po Plain (Lombardy, Italy).

Nicola Pilon,Elisa Cardarelli,Giuseppe Bogliani

doi:10.3897/bdj.1.e972

Abstract

An entomological investigation was carried out in an agricultural area, mainly rice fields, of the Po river plain, located in the municipalities of Lacchiarella (MI) and Giussago (PV) (Lombardy, Italy). In 2009 and 2010, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were sampled along rice field banks and in restored habitats, by means of pitfall traps. The area appeared as species-rich, compared to other anthropogenic habitats in the Po river pain. Most of the collected Carabids were species with a wide distribution in the Paleartic region, eurytopic and common in European agroecosystems. The assemblages were dominated by small-medium, macropterous species, with summer larvae. No endemic species were found. Species with southern distribution, rarely found north of the Po river, were also sampled. Amara littorea is recorded for the first time in Italy.

Highlights

In the last decades, intensification and mechanization of agricultural practices, introduced in order to maximise productivity, led to a decrease in habitat quality and landscape heterogeneity throughout European agroecosystems
The assemblages were dominated by small-medium, macropterous species, with summer larvae
Environmentally-friendly agronomic practices and creation of non-cropped habitats have been recognized as a potential solution to this dramatic decline of biodiversity and have become key aims of European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and, as a consequence, of national and regional ones (Stoate et al 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Intensification and mechanization of agricultural practices, introduced in order to maximise productivity, led to a decrease in habitat quality and landscape heterogeneity throughout European agroecosystems. Environmentally-friendly agronomic practices and creation of non-cropped habitats have been recognized as a potential solution to this dramatic decline of biodiversity and have become key aims of European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and, as a consequence, of national and regional ones (Stoate et al 2009). Even if agri-environment schemes (AESs) benefit some farmland species (e.g., Peach et al 2001), gaps in the provision of habitat quality and landscape connectivity for many others still exist (Kleijn et al 2001, Vickery et al 2004, Reid et al 2007). Better understanding on effects of AESs on farmland biodiversity and exhaustive surveys on animal and plant communities in enhanced habitats are required (Kleijn and Sutherland 2003, Stoate et al 2009)

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