Abstract
We studied assemblages of carabids in eight similar habitats, five in Slovakia and three in Serbia. The ground beetles were caught by pitfall traps from February 2015 until November 2016. We compared the incidence of Carabidae in floodplain forests and ecotones alongside the River Danube in Slovakia and the Rivers Tisza and Begej in Serbia. We determined their association with anthropogenic effects,diversity of plants in the different vegetation layers, cover of vegetation layers (herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees), area of forest stands, circumference of forest stands, distance to forest edge, age of forest stands, depth of leaf litter and physico-chemical properties of soil and leaf litter (conductivity, pH, relative content of H, C, P and N). In total, 2,495 adult individuals of 110 species of carabids were collected. The total epigeic activity of the carabids was significantly and positively associated with the number of species of plants in E3 vegetation layer and the relative content of N, and negatively with the cover of the E1 layer. Species richness was significantly positively associated with the number of species of plants in the E3 layer and the pH of leaf litter, but an opposite trend in evenness.
Highlights
There are very few areas of floodplain forests left in Europe
The aim of this study is to determine the specificities of carabid communities in alluvial forests and the main ecological and environmental factors associated with their diversity and dynamics
Seventy-nine species of ground beetles are recorded at the sites in Slovakia and 58 species at those in Serbia (Majzlan & Litavský, 2017), with 27 of the species occurring in both countries
Summary
There are very few areas of floodplain forests left in Europe. According to Ábrahámová et al (2014), they are among the most endangered natural ecosystems in Europe. It is important to record the current conditions in these habitats over the widest possible area using important bioindicators such as Carabidae. This was the main reason for studying the alluvial soils of three rivers with analogous habitat characteristics, situated at the same latitude and approximately 400 km apart. Carabidae are a taxonomically stable and well studied family, which because of their specific life strategies and ecological preferences in terms of humidity, temperature, shading, soil and vegetation
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