Ground beetles (Carabidae) of field margin habitats
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Ground beetles (Carabidae) of field margin habitats Janina Bennewicz 1 & Tadeusz Barczak 1 Received: 29 April 2019 / Accepted: 10 January 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the role of field margin habitats in preserving the diversity and abundance of ground beetle assemblages, including potentially entomophagous species and those with conservation status in Poland. Research material was collected in 2006–2007 in four types of margin habitats – a forest, bushes, ditches and in two arable fields. Insects were captured into pitfalls, without preservation liquid or bait added to the traps. Traps were inspected twice a week, between May and August, and one sample was a weekly capture. In field margin habitats the most abundant species were Limodromus assimilis, Anchomenus dorsalis, Pterostichus melanarius and Carabus auratus. A lower abundance of species was noted on fields, with dominant Poecilus cupreus and P. melanarius. The group of zoophagous carabids found in our study includes 30 species from field margin habitats, i.e. 37.5% of all captured Carabidae taxa and 58.3% of all specimens. The share of aphidophagous species was 84.9% among bushes, 86.7% near ditches, and 88.0% in the forest habitat. Several species captured during the study are under protection in Poland. These include the partly protected Carabus convexus, which also has the status of near threatened species, the partly protected Calosoma auropunctatum, and Broscus cephalotes. Considering all the investigated field margin habitats, ground beetles were most numerous in the oak-hornbeam habitat, defined as bushes, formed predominantly by Prunus spinosa, Crataegus leavigata, Sambucus nigra and Rosa canina. Thus, this habitat was the most important reservoir/refugium for the ground beetles. Keywords Ground beetle assemblages . Margin habitats . Zoophages . Biodiversity conservation
Introduction Field margin habitats are increasingly considered for their importance, including a role as windbreaks, shelterbelts and migration corridors in European Union policy (Alemu 2016). An extensive report on “European Crop Protection” presents different types of field margins, with emphasis on their multiple functions in arable farming, management options for these specific ecosystems, as well as their significance in agrienvironment schemes, which is mentioned by Holland et al. (2017). The authors emphasize the role of these habitats in the promotion of biodiversity, as well as mitigating the negative effects of pesticide use. Different types of margin habitats have been identified: headlands with herbaceous vegetation, tree stands or tree lines, mid-field tree belts, shelterbelts, shrubby areas, roadsides, mid-field forests or midfield woodlots or forest islands, ditches, ponds, meadows, etc. (Šustek * Tadeusz Barczak [email protected] 1
Department of Biology and Animal Environment, UTP University of Science and Technology, Hetmańska 33, 85-039 Bydgoszcz, Poland
1994, 1998; Marshall and Moonen 2002; Kujawa e
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