Distribution of ground-dwelling beetles in fragmented tropical habitats |
| |
Authors: | Lorraine H L Gormley Peter A Furley Allan D Watt |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK;(2) Present address: School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wales, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK;(3) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Hill of Brathens, Banchory, AB31 4BW, UK |
| |
Abstract: | The conservation of biodiversity is increasingly dependent on human-altered habitats. In a fragmented forest landscape in
northern Costa Rica within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, an area of great conservation importance, we compared the
diversity and composition of ground-dwelling beetle communities in five habitat types along a gradient of increasing disturbance:
primary forest, logged forest, secondary forest, plantation (Gmelina arborea) and pasture. Using pitfall trapping we captured a total of 1,877 beetles (Coleoptera), comprising 422 morphospecies in 26
families. The plantation sites had the lowest number of species followed by secondary forest and pasture. Multivariate analysis
separated the beetle fauna according to land use, and suggested that only the logged forest maintains a similar species assemblage
to primary forest. However, each habitat harboured a number of unique species indicating the conservation value of the mosaic
of habitats found in fragmented landscapes. Our results suggest that to maintain forest beetle species diversity it is essential
that areas of natural forest are conserved. However, other land uses also provide beetle habitats and in fragmented areas
active management to maintain a mosaic of land uses will contribute to the conservation of beetle diversity. |
| |
Keywords: | Biodiversity conservation Coleoptera Costa Rica Fragmentation Neotropics |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|