Surprising longhorned beetle (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) richness along an Italian alpine valley

By

Gobbi, Mauro
Priore, Cristiana
Tattoni, Clara
Lencioni, Valeria 1970-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2012

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

208

Pages

27-39

Subjects

Alps , Cerambycids , Protected areas , saproxylic , species richness , Val Genova

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.208.3193

 

Abstract

In this paper we report about 88 longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae) species found in 6929 hectares and distributed along an altitudinal gradient of 1500 m of an Italian alpine valley (Val Genova, central-eastern Italian Alps). The species richness, result merging data from sixty years (1947–2007) of entomological surveys, corresponds to the 32% of the Italian cerambycid fauna confirming the high richness/surface ratio, probably unique in the Alps. The effect of thirteen environmental variables was tested on the species richness, but only the elevation resulted able to affect it. The species richness decrease with altitude not gradually, but experience a strong step above 1700 m a.s.l.. The highest species richness (average values of 42 species) was recorded at the lowest and mid elevations (between 800 and 1600 m a.s.l.). The species turnover along the altitudinal gradient is low suggesting moderate habitat turnover along the valley.One of the eighty-eight observed species, Tragosoma depsarium, is classified near threatened by the IUCN. Our data suggest that the wilderness of the valley close to the suitable management of grasslands and forests, help to support high level of cerambycids diversity. This biodiversity is good indicators of health of the wood saproxylic assemblages, as well an important food source for many vertebrate predators.