Edge effects in oak forest – forest edge – grassland complex for ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Staphylinidae)
Abstract
Forest edges are transitional zones between forests and adjacent open habitats, which are characterized by specific abiotic and biotic factors. I tested the edge effects on carabids and staphylinids in the oak forest – forest edge – grassland habitat complex in East Hungary. I collected the ground beetles and rove beetles using pitfall traps (60 traps: 2 spatial replicates × 3 habitats × 10 traps). I found that the number of ground beetles species was significantly higher in the edge than in the grassland and forest, but the number of ground beetle individuals was the highest in the grassland. The number of rove beetles species and individuals were significantly lower in the grassland than in the edge and forest. The indicator species analysis (IndVal) showed that there were edge-associated species in case of both taxa. We found four ground beetle and eight rove beetle species which were associated to the edge. Based on my results it seems that forest edges play an important role in the maintaining of the diversity of carabid and staphylinid assemblages.
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