Abstract
Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera : Cerambycidae) have been used to identify sites of high biological diversity and conservation value in cultivated landscapes, but were rarely studied in changing landscapes of humid tropics. This study was conducted in a region of southern Yunnan, China, which was dominated by natural rainforest until 30 years ago, but is successively transformed into commercial rubber monoculture plantations since that time. The objectives were to investigate longhorn beetle species diversity and distribution in the major land use types of this landscape and to estimate the effects of an expected expansion of rubber plantations on the longhorn beetle assemblages. The results showed that tree species diversity (181 species in total) and longhorn beetle diversity (220 species in total) were closely related with no significant differences between the tree and longhorn beetles assemblages shown by similarity distance analysis. There was a highly positive relationship between the estimated species richness of longhorn beetles and the number of tree species. Individual numbers of longhorn beetles and trees were also highly positive related at the sampling sites. Non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed that the degree of canopy coverage, succession age and tree diversity explained 78.5% of the total variation in longhorn beetle assemblage composition. Natural forest sites had significantly higher numbers of species and individuals than any other type of habitat. Although young rubber plantations bear the highest longhorn beetle diversity outside forests (half of the total number of longhorn beetle species recorded in total), they can not provide permanent habitats for most of these species, because they develop into closed canopy plantations with less suitable habitat conditions. Therefore, along with an expected expansion of rubber cultivation which largely proceeds at the expense of forest areas, the habitat conditions for longhorn beetles in this region might decrease dramatically in future.
Highlights
Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera : Cerambycidae) have been used to identify sites of high biological diversity and conservation value in cultivated landscapes which are usually composed of heterogeneous mosaics of different land use [1,2,3]
The overall results on longhorn beetle species richness and abundance in the different habitat types of the study landscape clearly indicate that only one land use type, natural forest, possesses a degree of uniqueness in species diversity
The highest total numbers of species and individuals were recorded from the forest sites at which 780 individuals represented 193 species, from 220 species recorded overall
Summary
Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera : Cerambycidae) have been used to identify sites of high biological diversity and conservation value in cultivated landscapes which are usually composed of heterogeneous mosaics of different land use [1,2,3]. Longhorn beetle diversity and distribution was shown to be affected by forest management practices [6,7,8,9,10], invasive tree species [11], habitat destruction and degradation [12,13], habitat fragmentation [14], environmental gradients [15], disturbances of fire, drought and windstorm [16,17,18,19,20,21], spatial heterogeneity [22] and effects of host species preferences [23]. Very little research has been done to analyze the effects of land use change on beetle assemblages in relatively young cultivated landscapes of tropical rainforest regions (but see [24] for Mexico)
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