Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Use of taxonomic and chorological diversity to highlight the conservation value of insect communities in a Mediterranean coastal area: the carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of Castelporziano (Central Italy)

  • Coastal Forest Ecosystem near Rome
  • Published:
Rendiconti Lincei Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We used the carabid beetles inhabiting the Castelporziano Presidential Estate reserve (a natural reserve of some 60 ha facing the Tyrrhenian sea) to show how chorotypes (i.e. species distribution types) can be used to characterise insect communities. We compared three forms of diversity: species richness, Clarke and Warwick taxonomic diversity and chorological composition. Chorological composition was modelled using Menhinick, Margalef, Shannon, and Brillouin diversity, Simpson dominance, Pielou evenness and Buzas and Gibson evenness. Variations in carabid species richness, chorological composition (richness, diversity, dominance and evenness) and taxonomic diversity among biotopes followed different patterns thus providing complementary not redundant information. Beach, dunes, high maquis and oak forest were biotopes with low species richness, whereas wet woodlands, mixed forest, wet zones and open areas have high species richness. Low maquis had an intermediate position. This subdivision is substantially confirmed by indices of chorological composition. However, in contrast with large variations in diversity indices, evenness was substantially similar, and relatively high in all biotopes, even those with very small numbers of species. Taxonomic diversity was also similar among biotopes, being however small in oak forests and open areas. When species richness, chorological diversity and taxonomic diversity were used to calculate an index of overall conservation interest, the most important biotopes resulted to be wet zones, wet woodlands, open areas and mixed forest. These results clearly indicate that the carabid communities with high conservation values are those associated with humid environments. This is consistent with the hypothesis that most of the carabids species occurring in the study area are hygrophilous elements, associated with wetlands, which shifted their range southwards during the glacials, and which form a relict component of the carabid fauna of coastal areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blondel J, Aronson J (1999) Biology and wildlife of the Mediterranean Region. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandmayr P (1991) The reduction of metathoracic alae and of dispersal power of carabid beetles along the evolutionary pathway into the mountains. In: Lanzavecchia G, Valvassori R (eds) Form and function in zoology. Mucchi, Modena, pp 363–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandmayr P, Zetto T, Pizzolotto R (2005) I Coleotteri Carabidi per la valutazione ambientale e la conservazione della biodiversità. Manuale operativo. APAT, Manuali e linee guida 34

  • Brandmayr P, Pizzolotto R, Colombetta G, Zetto T (2009) In situ extinction of carabid beetles and community changes in a protected suburban forest during the past century: the “Bosco Farneto” near Trieste (Italy). J Insect Conserv 13:231–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso P, Rigal F, Borges PAV, Carvalho JC (2014) A new frontier in biodiversity inventory: a proposal for estimators of phylogenetic and functional diversity. Methods Ecol Evol 5(5):452–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casale A, Vigna Taglianti A (1999) Carabid beetles (excl. Cicindelidae) of Anatolia, and their biogeographical significance (Coleoptera, Caraboidea). Biogeogr Lav Soc ital Biogeogr (n.s.) 20:277–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci A, Bacaro G, Scheiner SM (2011) Old and new challenges in using species diversity for assessing biodiversity. Phil Trans R Soc B 366:2426–2437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1998) A taxonomic distinctness index and its statistical properties. J Appl Ecol 35:523–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darlington PJ (1971) The carabid beetles of New Guinea. Part IV. General considerations; analysis and history of fauna; taxonomic supplement. Bull Mus Comp Zool 142:129–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Della Rocca AB, Pignatti S, Mugnoli S, Bianco PM (2001) La Carta Vegetazionale della Tenuta di Castelporziano. Il Sistema Ambientale della Tenuta Presidenziale di Castelporziano. Ricerche sulla complessità di un ecosistema forestale costiero mediterraneo, vol II. Accademia delle Scienze detta dei XL, Roma, pp 709–748

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickman C, Pimm S, Cardillo M (2007) The pathology of biodiversity loss: the practice of conservation. In: Macdonald DW, Service K (eds) Key topics in conservation biology. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, pp 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Faith DP (1992) Conservation evaluation and phylogenetic diversity. Biol Conserv 61:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S (2007a) A statistical method for idiographic analyses in biogeographical research. Diversity Distrib 13:836–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S (2007b) The tenebrionid beetles of Mt Vesuvius: species assemblages and biogeographic kinetics on an active volcano (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae). In: Nardi G, Vomero V (eds) Ricerche preliminari sugli Artropodi del Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 4. Cierre edizioni, Verona, pp 221–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S (2013) Variation in zoogeographical composition along an elevational gradient: the tenebrionid beetles of Latium (Central Italy). Entomologia 1(e6):33–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S, Fowles A (2005) A biogeographical analysis of the tenebrionid beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) of the island of Thasos in the context of the Aegean Islands (Greece). J Nat Hist 39(46):3919–3949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S, Vigna Taglianti A (2002) Ecological and historical factors affecting carabid and tenebrionid communities (Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae) in a Mediterranean coastal area. Biogeogr Lav Soc Ital Biogeogr (n.s.) 23:81–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S, Maltzeff P, Salvati L (2015) Use of insect distribution across landscape-soil units to assess conservation priorities in a Mediterranean coastal reserve: the tenebrionid beetles of Castelporziano (Central Italy). Rend Fis Acc Lincei. doi:10.1007/s12210-015-0391-8

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn DFB, Mirotchnick N, Jain M, Palmer MI, Naeem S (2011) Functional and phylogenetic diversity as predictors of biodiversity–ecosystem-function relationships. Ecology 92:1573–1581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaston KJ, Spicer JI (2004) Biodiversity: an introduction, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Gobbi M, Fontaneto D (2008) Biodiversity of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in different habitats of the Italian Po Lowland. Agric Ecosyst Environ 127:273–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2011) Estimating species richness. In: Magurran AE, McGill BJ (eds) Frontiers in measuring biodiversity. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 39–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Guralnick R, Van Cleve J (2005) Strengths and weakness of museum and national survey data sets for predicting regional species richness: comparative and combined approaches. Divers Distrib 11:349–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST—PAlaeontological STatistics, ver. 2.17. Palaeontol Electron 4(1): 1–9. User’s Guide and application published at: http://folk.uio.no/ohammer/past. Accessed: 2013, February 2

  • Hayek LC, Buzas MA (2010) Surveying natural populations. Quantitative tools for assessing biodiversity. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Heino J, Soininen J, Lappalainen J, Virtanen R (2005) The relationship between species richness and taxonomic distinctness in freshwater organisms. Limnol Oceanogr 50:978–986

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotze DJ, O’Hara RB (2003) Species decline—but why? Explanations of carabid beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) declines in Europe. Oecologia 135:138–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotze J, Brandmayr P, Casale A, Dauffy-Richard E, Dekoninck W, Koivula M, Lovei G, Mossakowski D, Noordijk J, Paarmann W, Pizzolotto R, Saska P, Schwerk A, Serrano J, Szyszko J, Taboada A, Turin H, Venn S, Vermeulen R, Zetto Brandmayr T (2011) Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe - from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation. ZooKeys 100:55–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurements. Princeton University, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Magurran A (2004) Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Publishing, Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrill WL, Lester DG, Wrona AE (1990) Factors affecting efficacy of pitfall traps for beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Tenebrionidae). J Entomol Sci 25:284–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Pey B, Nahmani J, Auclerc A, Capowiez Y, Cluzeau D, Cortet J, Decaëns T, Deharveng L, Dubs F, Joimel S, Briard C, Grumiaux F, Laporte M, Pasquet A, Pelosi C, Pernin C, Ponge J, Salmon S, Santorufo L, Hedde M (2014) Current use of and future needs for soil invertebrate functional traits in community ecology. Basic Appl Ecol 15:194–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielou EC (1975) Ecological diversity. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pizzolotto R, Brandmayr P (2014) IBP’: a new index to estimate biogeographical peculiarity. ISRN Ecology 2014. ID 198707

  • Pullin AS (2002) Conservation biology. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Purschke O, Schmid BC, Sykes MT, Poschlod P, Michalski SG, Durka W, Kühn I, Winter M, Prentice HC (2013) Contrasting changes in taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity during a long-term succession: insights into assembly processes. J Ecol 101:857–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues ASL, Gaston KJ (2002) Maximising phylogenetic diversity in the selection of networks of conservation areas. Biol Conserv 105:103–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers SI, Clarke K, Reynolds JD (1999) The taxonomic distinctness of coastal bottom-dwelling fish communities of the Northeast Atlantic. J Anim Ecol 68:769–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samways MJ (2005) Insect diversity conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Samways MJ, McGeoch M, New TR (2010) Insect conservation. A handbook of approaches and methods. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DB, Sleeper EL (1977) The use of pit-fall traps for estimating the abundance of arthropods, with special reference to the Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera). Ann Entomol Soc Am 70:242–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich W, Fattorini S (2013) Longitudinal gradients in the phylogenetic community structure of European Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) do not coincide with the major routes of postglacial colonization. Ecography 36:1106–1116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dyke F (2008) Conservation biology: foundations, concepts, applications, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vigna Taglianti A (1998) I carabidi nella faunistica e biogeografia. Atti Accad Naz Entomol Rendiconti 46:245–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Vigna Taglianti A (2005) Appendice B. Checklist e corotipi delle specie di Carabidi della fauna italiana. In: Brandmayr P, Zetto T, Pizzolotto R (Eds) I Coleotteri Carabidi per la valutazione ambientale e la conservazione della biodiversità. Manuale operativo. APAT, Manuali e linee guida 34, pp. 186–225

  • Vigna Taglianti A, Fattorini S (2002) Aspetti biogeografici delle cenosi a carabidi dei sistemi costieri italiani. Biogeogr Lav Soc Ital Biogeogr (n.s.) 23:127–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Vigna Taglianti A, Audisio PA, Biondi M, Bologna MA, Carpaneto GM, De Biase A, Fattorini S, Piattella E, Sindaco R, Venchi A, Zapparoli M (1999) A proposal for a chorotype classification of the Near East fauna, in the framework of the Western Palearctic region. Biogeogr Lav Soc Ital Biogeogr (n.s.) 20:31–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Vigna Taglianti A, Bonavita P, Di Giulio A, Todini A, Maltzeff P (2001) I Carabidi della Tenuta Presidenziale di Castelporziano (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Boll Ass Romana Entomol 56:115–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Vigna Taglianti A, Bonavita P, Maltzeff P (2007) I Carabidi della Tenuta Presidenziale di Castelporziano. Addenda (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Boll Ass Romana Entomol 62:101–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodcock BA (2005) Pitfall trapping in ecological studies. In: Leather S (ed) Insect sampling in forest ecosystems. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 37–57

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the General Secretariat of Presidency of the Italian Republic and to the Direction of Castelporziano Presidential Estate (A. De Michelis and A. Tinelli) for the possibility to carry out the research. We are also grateful to A. Fanfani, coordinator of faunal researches in Castelporziano and to all people who provided us with specimens and information. Thanks are due to two anonymous referees fort their valuable comments on a previous version of this paper.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The authors declare that this research was conducted without funding, that they have no potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial) and that the research did not involve living animals, because primary data were entirely extracted from literature.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CE3C – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes and Platform for Enhancing Ecological Research & Sustainability (PEERS), Universidade dos Açores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze, Angra do Heroísmo, 9700-042, Azores, Portugal

    Simone Fattorini

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie Charles Darwin, Sede di Entomologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Valerio Massimo 6, 00162, Rome, Italy

    Augusto Vigna Taglianti

Authors
  1. Simone Fattorini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Augusto Vigna Taglianti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simone Fattorini.

Additional information

This peer-reviewed article is a result of the multidisciplinary project coordinated by the “Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL”, Rome, Italy, in the area of the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano near Rome.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fattorini, S., Vigna Taglianti, A. Use of taxonomic and chorological diversity to highlight the conservation value of insect communities in a Mediterranean coastal area: the carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of Castelporziano (Central Italy). Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 26 (Suppl 3), 625–641 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-015-0442-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-015-0442-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation