Response of Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Communities to Effect of Urbanization in Southern Osaka: An Analytical Approach Using GIS

Abstract

Urbanization involves the profound alteration of original habitats and causes habitat loss and biodiversity decline. This study aims to clarify the response of ground beetle communities to the effect of urbanization in southern Osaka, Japan. In total, 2950 individuals from 53 species of ground beetle were collected in nine urban green areas. The categories of land use regarding the study sites were determined based on GIS data. The community index was not significantly different between areas. Urban areas and roads in land use mainly have a negative influence on ground beetles. Paddies, fields, parks and green spaces, and open space were positively correlated with species richness of forest species and large-sized species, and open space was positively correlated with species richness and the density of open land species. However, ground beetle communities in different areas of varying sizes did not group separately. These results suggest that changes in paddies, fields, parks and green spaces, forests, and open space associated with the expanding urban area and road greatly influenced species composition, and the community structure remained similar.