Abstract
Species diversity in a given landscape depends to a high degree on its habitat diversity. However, the specificity of different environmental factors may play a different role and individual habitats may undergo changes in time (succession). Moreover, some large-scale environmental factors may affect the habitats in the same way but differ from year to year. A long-term study was carried out with the aim to study the impact of selected environmental factors on the carabid assemblages of individual study site over the years and the impact of selected environmental factors on the carabid assemblages of the set of all study sites in selected years. the impact of selected environmental factors on the carabid assemblages of individual study site over the years and the impact of selected environmental factors on the carabid assemblages of the set of all study sites in selected years. In order to deal with this task, the carabid beetles assemblages on different study sites in a forest-field landscape in Poland were collected using pitfall traps over a period of ten years (2009-2018). The sites were a planted pine forest (12 years old in 2009), a planted pine forest (31 years old in 2009), a naturally-regenerated pine stand (about 10 years old in 2009), a naturally-regenerated pine forest (about 67 years old in 2009), an naturally regenerated pine forest with a share of oak, beech and birch (about 82 years old in 2009), two irregularly-mown sites without biomass removal, and a regularly-mown site with biomass removal. With respect to individual study sites the impact of the factors age (year of the study), temperature and rainfall in the year of inventory, and temperature and rainfall in the preceding year was tested. The impact of the factors age (stand age in the respective year), carbon in the organic layer, carbon in the mineral soil and distance from the nearest forest was analyzed for the set of all study sites in the years 2011 and 2015. Altogether, 9208 individuals belonging to 77 species were collected. Redundancy Analyses (RDA) indicated that on the individual study sites the year of study was generally positively correlated with temperature and negatively with rainfall, indicating increasing temperatures and decreasing amount of rainfall over the years. For study sites in forest stands in most cases the rainfall was a significant factor, especially the rainfall in the year before the inventory. For study sites in open areas both rainfall and temperature showed significant results. Using Canonical Correspondence Analyses (CCA) for analyzing the impact of the factors on carabid assemblages of the full set of study sites in 2011 and 2015, it was shown that age was positively correlated with carbon in the organic layer, but not with carbon in the mineral soil. Significant factors were carbon in the organic layer and distance from the nearest forest. The results of the study enlarge our knowledge on the impact of different predictable and stochastic environmental factors on the formation of carabid beetle assemblages in rural landscapes.
Highlights
IntroductionAn essential factor for the species diversity in a given landscape, i.e. the number of species over a large area or region (gamma-diversity) (Whittaker 1972, Anderson et al 2011), is its habitat diversity (e.g. Ryszkowski et al 2002, Weibull et al 2003, Purtauf et al 2004, Hendrickx et al 2007)
An essential factor for the species diversity in a given landscape, i.e. the number of species over a large area or region (Whittaker 1972, Anderson et al 2011), is its habitat diversity (e.g. Ryszkowski et al 2002, Weibull et al 2003, Purtauf et al 2004, Hendrickx et al 2007). This species diversity is influenced by environmental factors, both on the spatial level of the individual habitats as well as the overall landscape
The results indicated that on individual forest study sites precipitation was an important factor, whereas in open areas both precipitation and temperature showed some significant results
Summary
An essential factor for the species diversity in a given landscape, i.e. the number of species over a large area or region (gamma-diversity) (Whittaker 1972, Anderson et al 2011), is its habitat diversity (e.g. Ryszkowski et al 2002, Weibull et al 2003, Purtauf et al 2004, Hendrickx et al 2007). This species diversity is influenced by environmental factors, both on the spatial level of the individual habitats as well as the overall landscape. The species composition in the habitat can be influenced by landscape-related factors, like the type of neighbouring habitats or distance to the forest or lake (e.g. Burel 1989, Fournier & Loreau 1999, Holland & Fahrig 2000, Millán de la Peña et al 2003, Tropek et al 2013)
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