The influence of landscape heterogeneity - ground beetles (coleoptera: carabidae) in fthiotida, central Greece.

Anna Chapman

doi:10.3897/bdj.2.e1082

Abstract

Pitfall traps were used to sample Carabidae in agricultural land of the Spercheios valley, Fthiotida, Central Greece. Four pairs of cultivated fields were sampled. One field of each pair was located in a heterogeneous area and the other in a more homogeneous area. Heterogeneous areas were composed of small fields. They had high percentages of non-cropped habitats and a high diversity of land use types. Homogeneous areas were composed of larger fields. They had lower percentages of non-cropped habitats and a lower diversity of land use types. One pair of fields had been planted with cotton, one with maize, one with olives and one with wheat. Altogether 28 carabid species were recorded. This paper describes the study areas, the sampling methods used and presents the data collected during the study. Neither heterogeneous nor homogeneous areas had consistently higher abundance levels, activity density levels, species richness levels or diversity levels. However, significant differences were seen in some of the comparisons between heterogeneous and homogeneous areas.

Highlights

The level of heterogeneity in agricultural landscapes can influence farmland wildlife (Benton et al 2003; Tscharntke et al 2005; Fahrig et al 2011)
One pair of the sampled fields had been planted with cotton, one with maize, one with olives and one with wheat
One field of each pair was located in a heterogeneous area, which had small field sizes, a large amount of non-cropped habitat and a high level of land use diversity

Summary

Introduction

The level of heterogeneity in agricultural landscapes can influence farmland wildlife (Benton et al 2003; Tscharntke et al 2005; Fahrig et al 2011). Some aspects of landscape heterogeneity will influence the Carabidae These aspects are field size (Kromp 1999), the presence of non-cropped habitat (Pollard 1968; Sotherton 1985) and land use diversity (Östman et al 2001). Landscapes with small fields are likely to have high levels of land use diversity, which will create refuges for carabids in times of disturbance. This is because cultivation practices take place at different times in different crops, so a diverse landscape will always have some undisturbed habitat, while cultivation practices take place elsewhere (Kromp 1999)

Objectives

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Conclusion