The species composition and diversity of tree-dwelling beetles in deciduous oak and evergreen forests in central Japan; Relationship between the diversity index and sample size

During the period fromlate May through December 1981, tree-dwelling beetles were regularly surveyed at three deciduous oak and two evergreen forests in the vicinity of Gifu City. Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae were abundant in these forests. The species diversity and the seasonal succession of species were most apparent in May and June. The three deciduous oak forests, with many species and high equitability, showed more diverse community structure, but fewer individuals, when compared with the two evergreen forests. Furthermore, the species compositions of the deciduous oak forests were seasonally and spatially more heterogeneous than those of the evergreen forests. A few dominant species, however, had a strong influence on the community structure. The relationship between the diversity index and sample size was examined. The diversity index changed with the sample size, and the range of the variation diminished as the sample size increased. However, equilibrium was not reached even in the largest sample size used in this study (20 samples). There was a significantly high correlation (P<0.001) in diversity index between the smaller sample sizes (5, 10, 15) and the largest. It was, therefore, shown that community structures can be compared on the basis of the diversity indices from samples of constant size, even when the samples are small. Contribution No. 108 from Lab. Ent., Fac. Agr., Gifu Univ.     

Are we doomed to repeat history? A model of the past using tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) and conservation biology to anticipate the future

Studies of conservation biology involving tiger beetles have become increasingly common in the last 15 years. Governments and NGOs in several countries have considered tiger beetles in making policy decisions of national conservation efforts and have found tiger beetles useful organisms for arguing broad conservation issues. We trace the evolution of the relationship between tiger beetle studies and conservation biology and propose that this history may in itself provide a model for anticipating developments and improvements in the ability of conservation biology to find effective goals, gather appropriate data, and better communicate generalizations to non-scientific decision makers, the public, and other scientists. According to the General Continuum of Scientific Perspectives on Nature model, earliest biological studies begin with natural history and concentrate on observations in the field and specimen collecting, followed by observing and measuring in the field, manipulations in the field, observations and manipulations in the laboratory, and finally enter theoretical science including systems analysis and mathematical models. Using a balance of historical and analytical approaches, we tested the model using scientific studies of tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) and the field of conservation biology. Conservation biology and tiger beetle studies follow the historical model, but the results for conservation biology also suggest a more complex model of simultaneous parallel developments. We use these results to anticipate ways to better meet goals in conservation biology, such as actively involving amateurs, avoiding exclusion of the public, and improving language and style in scientific communication. CXLV, Studies of Tiger Beetles     

Invasion of the coccinellid community associated with a tropical annual agroecosystem

1. Detailed understanding of the mechanisms enabling or limiting the impacts of invasive generalist predators is needed. Harmonia axyridis is an invasive generalist coccinellid predator that may have destabilised coccinellid communities worldwide and is an excellent candidate for investigating invasion dynamics.
2. We evaluated four hypotheses: (1) Nine years after being detected in Central Brazil, Ha. axyridis has dominated the coccinellid community. This is facilitated by (2) its broader aphid prey range than the other aphidophagous coccinellids, (3) its superiority as an asymmetrical intraguild predator, and (4) the invasibility of the present coccinellid community.
3. We sampled the invertebrate communities associated with six organic vegetable farms in Brazil during 2017 and 2018, conducted a feeding trial to measure prey niche breadth and overlap, and estimated intra- and interspecific interaction strengths corresponding to first-order Lotka-Volterra parameters to evaluate the strength of intraguild predation and create a community matrix.
4. We found (1) Ha. axyridis comprised ≤8.3% of the coccinellid community. (2) Hi. convergens had the broadest prey niche and dominated the prey niche of Ha. axyridis. (3) We could not determine from the population data if Ha. axyridis was the dominant intraguild predator because its density was too low and constant. (4) The community matrix indicated that the present-day coccinellid community was stable.
5. We conclude Ha. axyridis has not become invasive in Central Brazil, in part because it does not have the broadest prey niche breadth and the present coccinellid community is stable to the present perturbation of Ha. axyridis.