Landscape patterns of species-level association between ground-beetles and overstory trees in boreal forests of western Canada (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

By

Bergeron, Colin
Spence, John R., 1948-
Volney, Winston Jan Anthony, 1946-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2011

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

147

Pages

577-600

Subjects

Biodiversity surrogates , Carabidae , Forest canopy mosaic , Landscape ecology , Regional conservation , Trees

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.147.2098

 

Abstract

Spatial associations between species of trees and ground-beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) involve many indirect ecological processes, likely reflecting the function of numerous forest ecosystem components. Describing and quantifying these associations at the landscape scale is basic to the development of a surrogate-based framework for biodiversity monitoring and conservation. In this study, we used a systematic sampling grid covering 84 km2 of boreal mixedwood forest to characterize the ground-beetle assemblage associated with each tree species occurring on this landscape. Projecting the distribution of relative basal area of each tree species on the beetle ordination diagram suggests that the carabid community is structured by the same environmental factors that affects the distribution of trees, or perhaps even by trees per se. Interestingly beetle species are associated with tree species of the same rank order of abundance on this landscape, suggesting that conservation of less abundant trees will concomitantly foster conservation of less abundant beetle species. Landscape patterns of association described here are based on characteristics that can be directly linked to provincial forest inventories, providing a basis that is already available for use of tree species as biodiversity surrogates in boreal forest land management.