TY - JOUR

T1 - What shapes ground beetle assemblages in a tree species-rich subtropical forest?

AU - Zumstein, Pascale

AU - Bruelheide, Helge

AU - Fichtner, Andreas

AU - Schuldt, Andreas

AU - Staab, Michael

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Zhou, Hongzhang

AU - Aßmann, Thorsten

N1 - Funding Information: We dedicate this work to the memory of the late Terry Erwin (1940–2020). He was one of the pioneers who studied how tree species diversity can affect the diversity of insects, especially ground beetles. One of his publications from a rainforest in Panama stimulated intensive research on tropical species diversity, particularly of arthropods. At the same time, Terry was one of the most dedicated entomologists we have ever met. His ecological work, as well as his contributions to natural history and conservation biology of carabids, has been very stimulating to our own studies. We are grateful for his influence and we will not forget him and his work. We thank the administration of the Gutianshan National Park, and all BEF-China members for their support. We further thank Jiang Zaigen (Gutianshan) for help with trap maintenance, Marianne Peters (Leuphana University Lüneburg) for sorting trap catches, David D. Wrase (Gusow-Platkow), and Thierry Deuve (Natural History Museum Paris) for help with identification. We gratefully acknowledge funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG FOR891/1-3). We also thank John Spence, Nigel Stork, and an anonymous reviewer for useful comments that helped improve this work. Funding Information: We thank the administration of the Gutianshan National Park, and all BEF-China members for their support. We further thank Jiang Zaigen (Gutianshan) for help with trap maintenance, Marianne Peters (Leuphana University Lüneburg) for sorting trap catches, David D. Wrase (Gusow-Platkow), and Thierry Deuve (Natural History Museum Paris) for help with identification. We gratefully acknowledge funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG FOR891/1-3). Publisher Copyright: © Pascale Zumstein et al.

PY - 2021/6/16

Y1 - 2021/6/16

N2 - As woody plants provide much of the trophic basis for food webs in forests their species richness, but also stand age and numerous further variables such as vegetation structure, soil properties and elevation can shape assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). However, the combined impact of these numerous variables on ground beetle diversity and community structure has rarely been studied simultaneously. Therefore, ground beetles were studied in 27 plots in a highly diverse and structurally heterogeneous subtropical forest ecosystem, the Gutianshan National Park (southeast China) using pitfall traps and flight interception traps. Both trapping methods collected partly overlapping species spectra. The arboreal fauna was dominated by lebiines and to a smaller extent by tiger beetles and platynines; the epigeic fauna comprised mostly representatives of the genus Carabus and numerous tribes, especially anisodactylines, pterostichines, and sphodrines. Ground beetle species richness, abundance, and biomass of the pitfall trap catches were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), fitted with seven environmental variables. Four of these variables influenced the ground beetle assemblages: Canopy cover, herb cover, pH-value of the topsoil and elevation. Contrary to our expectations, woody plant species richness and stand age did not significantly affect ground beetle assemblages. Thus, ground beetles seem to respond differently to environmental variables than ants and spiders, two other predominantly predatory arthropod groups that were studied on the same plots in our study area and which showed distinct relationships with woody plant richness. Our results highlight the need to study a wider range of taxa to achieve a better understanding of how environmental changes affect species assemblages and their functioning in forest ecosystems.

AB - As woody plants provide much of the trophic basis for food webs in forests their species richness, but also stand age and numerous further variables such as vegetation structure, soil properties and elevation can shape assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). However, the combined impact of these numerous variables on ground beetle diversity and community structure has rarely been studied simultaneously. Therefore, ground beetles were studied in 27 plots in a highly diverse and structurally heterogeneous subtropical forest ecosystem, the Gutianshan National Park (southeast China) using pitfall traps and flight interception traps. Both trapping methods collected partly overlapping species spectra. The arboreal fauna was dominated by lebiines and to a smaller extent by tiger beetles and platynines; the epigeic fauna comprised mostly representatives of the genus Carabus and numerous tribes, especially anisodactylines, pterostichines, and sphodrines. Ground beetle species richness, abundance, and biomass of the pitfall trap catches were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), fitted with seven environmental variables. Four of these variables influenced the ground beetle assemblages: Canopy cover, herb cover, pH-value of the topsoil and elevation. Contrary to our expectations, woody plant species richness and stand age did not significantly affect ground beetle assemblages. Thus, ground beetles seem to respond differently to environmental variables than ants and spiders, two other predominantly predatory arthropod groups that were studied on the same plots in our study area and which showed distinct relationships with woody plant richness. Our results highlight the need to study a wider range of taxa to achieve a better understanding of how environmental changes affect species assemblages and their functioning in forest ecosystems.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - abundance

KW - BEF-China

KW - biomass

KW - canopy cover

KW - Carabidae

KW - elevational gradient

KW - herb cover

KW - pH-value

KW - species-richness

KW - Abundance

KW - BEF-China

KW - biomass

KW - canopy cover

KW - Carabidae

KW - elevational gradient

KW - herb cover

KW - pH-value

KW - species richness

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108873184&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3897/zookeys.1044.63803

DO - 10.3897/zookeys.1044.63803

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 34183896

VL - 2021

SP - 907

EP - 927

JO - ZooKeys

JF - ZooKeys

SN - 1313-2989

IS - 1044

ER -