The Impact of Climate Variations on the Structure of Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Assemblage in Forests and Wetlands

Marina Kirichenko-Babko,Roman Babko,Yaroslav Danko,Marcin K Widomski,Anna Musz-Pomorksa

doi:10.3390/f11101074

Abstract

We studied the effect of climate variations on the structure of the assemblage of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a wetland and surrounding watershed forest. We analyzed the changes in the structure of the assemblage of ground beetles provoked by a two-year dry period against the background of studies carried out during the two-year wet period. Aridization influenced the structure of the assemblage of ground beetles more in wetlands than in forests. It was shown that despite the stabilizing effect of the forest on the structure of assemblages of terrestrial arthropods, the two-year dry period had a negative impact on the assemblage of ground beetles in the studied area. The Simpson dominance index of 4.9 during the wet season increased to 7.2 during the drought period. Although the total number of species during the dry period did not significantly decrease in comparison with the wet period—from 30 to 27 species—changes occurred in the trophic structure: during the drought period, the number of predators decreased. It is concluded that the resistance of forest habitats to climate aridization is somewhat exaggerated and, very likely, the structure of the community of arthropods in forests will change significantly.

Highlights

Observed climate changes, resulting from humans industrial, transport and agricultural activities triggering the green-house effect and changing precipitation volume and patterns, affect water availability [1,2] and occurrence of extreme weather-related events such as floods and heat waves [3,4,5].the increased duration of dry periods between subsequent rainfall events causes threat of droughts in the areas affected by climate anomalies, usually expressed by decrease in precipitation during the warm period of the year [6]
Wetlands cover approximately 6% of the of the Earth’s land surface [10], and they are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change because they are very dependent on the water cycle
30 species of ground beetles were recorded in three habitats of the ravine, and in the dry period, 27 species were recorded

Summary

Introduction

The increased duration of dry periods between subsequent rainfall events causes threat of droughts in the areas affected by climate anomalies, usually expressed by decrease in precipitation during the warm period of the year [6]. Wetlands cover approximately 6% of the of the Earth’s land surface [10], and they are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change because they are very dependent on the water cycle. They are often found at the interface between terrestrial ecosystems, such as forests and grasslands, and water, such as rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans [11]

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