Abstract
Carabid beetles and environmental parameters were investigated in 52 grassland sites with three replicate pitfall traps in each site and in the valley of the River Eider in Schleswig–Holstein (northern Germany) with 61 pitfall traps. Environmental parameters included water content of soil, sand content, organic matter content and pH. Ground beetle assemblages were derived by detrended correspondence analyses (DCA) and characterised by the specific environmental conditions as means for each assemblage. On the regional scale including all investigated sites of Schleswig–Holstein, five assemblages were differentiated. On the local scale including the investigated sites in the valley of the River Eider, three assemblages were found corresponding well with those found on the regional scale. Environmental conditions at the sites of the five assemblages were correlated with land use data, soil types, and water level stages provided by three maps of a geographic information system (GIS). The GIS maps were combined to develop smaller areas with land use, soil type and water level stage information. The characteristic environmental conditions were assigned to each area to derive the spatial distribution of the five ground beetle assemblages. Spatial prediction was correct for 65% of investigated sites. The potential area of each assemblage was estimated for the valley. The different grassland areas were evaluated as potential habitats for ground beetle species comparing total species richness with the regional species richness of each assemblage. The comparison shows that species richness in the evaluated assemblages is relatively low compared to the regional potential.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Computer Sciences Corporation 1990. Geo.Eas. Geostatistical Environmental Software, v. 1.2.1. US Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crist P.J., Kohley T.W. and Oakleaf J. 2000. Assessing land-use impacts on biodiversity using an expert system tool. Landscape Ecology 15: 47–62.
Dennis P., Young M.R., Howard C.L. and Gordon I.J. 1997. The response of epigeal beetles (Col.: Carabidae, Staphylinidae) to varied grazing regimes on upland Nardus stricta grasslands. Journal of Applied Ecology 34: 433–443.
De Vries H.H., Den Boer P.J. and van Dijk T.S. 1996. Ground beetle species in heathland fragments in relation to survival, dispersal, and habitat preference. Oecologia 107: 332–342.
Duelli P. 1997. Biodiversity evaluation in agricultural landscapes: an approach at two different scales. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 62: 81–91.
Duelli P. and Obrist M.K. 1998. In search of the best correlates for local organismal biodiversity in cultivated areas. Biodiversity and Conservation 7: 297–309.
Duelli P., Obrist M.K. and Schmatz D.R. 1999. Biodiversity evaluation in agricultural landscapes: above-ground insects. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 74: 33–64.
Dufrene M. and Legendre P. 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecological Monographs 67: 345–366.
Fahrig L. and Jonsen I. 1998. Effect of habitat patch characteristics on abundance and diversity of insects in an agricultural landscape. Ecosystems 1: 197–205.
Freitag S., van Jaarsveld A.S. and Biggs H.C. 1997. Ranking priority biodiversity areas: an iterative conservation value-based approach. Biological Conservation 82: 263–272.
French B.W. and Elliott N.C. 1999. Temporal and spatial distribution of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in grasslands and adjacent wheat fields. Pedobiologia 43: 73–84.
Haila Y. and Kouki J. 1994. The phenomenon of biodiversity in conservation biology. Annales Zoologici Fennici 31: 5–18.
Heydemann B. 1955. Carabiden der Kulturfelder als ökologische Indikatoren. Bericht 7. Wanderversammlung Deutscher Entomologen 1954: 172–185.
Hulshoff R.M. 1995. Landscape indices describing a Dutch landscape. Landscape Ecology 10: 101–111.
Irmler U. 1999. Environmental characteristics of ground beetle assemblages in northern German forests as basis for an expert system. Zeitschrift Ökologie und Naturschutz 8: 227–237.
Irmler U., Schrautzer J., Grabo J., Hanssen U., Hingst R. and Pichinot V. 1998. Der Einfluß von Nutzung und Bodenparametern auf die Biozönosen des Feuchtgrünlandes. Zeitschrift Őkologie und Naturschutz 7: 15–28.
Jongman R.H.G., ter Braak C.J.F. and van Tongeren O.F.R. 1987. Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Pudoc, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Loreau M. 1992. Species abundance patterns and the structure of ground-beetle communities. Annales Zoologici Fennici 28: 49–56.
Loreau M. 2000. Biodiversity and ecosystems functioning: recent theoretical advances. Oikos 91: 3–17.
Luff M.L. 1996. Use of carabids as environmental indicators in grasslands and cereals. Annales Zoologici Fennici 33: 185–195.
Luff M.L., Eyre M.D. and Rushton S.P. 1989. Classification and ordination of habitats of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in northeast England. Journal of Biogeography 16: 121–130.
Miller J.N., Brooks R.P. and Croonquist M.J. 1997. Effects of landscape patterns on biotic communities. Landscape Ecology 12: 137–153.
Müller-Motzfeld G. 1989. Laufkäfer (Coleoptera: Carabidae) als pedobiologische Indikatoren. Pedobiologia 33: 145–153.
Neilson R., King G.A. and Koerper G. 1992. Toward a rule-based biome model. Landscape Ecology 7: 27–43.
Niemelä J. 2000. Biodiversity monitoring for decision-making. Annales Zoologici Fennici 37: 307–317.
Niemelä J. and Halme E. 1992. Habitat associations of carabid beetles in fields and forests on the Åland islands, SW Finland. Ecography 15: 3–11.
Niemelä J., Haila Y. and Punttlia P. 1996. The importance of small-scale heterogeneity in boreal forests: variation in diversity in forest-floor invertebrates across the succession gradient. Ecography 19: 352–368.
Niemelä J., Kotze J., Ashworth A., Brandmyr P., Desender K. and New T. 2000. The search for common anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity: a global network. Journal of Insect Conservation 4: 3–9.
Plachter H. 1992. Grundzuge der naturschutzfachlichen Bewertung.Veröffentlichungen Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege in Baden-Württemberg 67: 9–48.
Renkonen O. 1938. Statistisch-ökologische Untersuchungen über die terrestrische Käferwelt der finnischen Bruchmoore. Annales Zoologici Societatis Zooligicae Botanicae Fennici 6: 1–231.
Rushton S.P., Luff M.L. and Eyre M.D. 1991. Habitat characteristics of grassland Pterostichus species (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Ecological Entomology 16: 91–104.
Scheffer F. 1992. Lehrbuch der Bodenkunde. Enke, Stuttgart, Germany.
Schrautzer J., Jensen K., Holsten B., Irmler U., Kieckbusch J. and Leiner U. 2002. The Eidertal pasture landscape – Mire restoration and species conservation in a river valley of Schleswig-Holstein (northwest Germany). In: Redecker B., Finck P., Härdtle W., Riecken U. and Schröder E. (eds), Pasture Landscapes and Nature Conservation. Springer, Berlin, Germany, pp. 227–237.
Schrautzer J. and Trepel M. 1997. Wechselwirkungen zwischen bodenphysikalischen Parametern, Grundwasserdynamik und der Vegetationszusammensetzung in unterschiedlich stark genutzten Niedermoor-Ökosystemen. Feddes Repertorium 108: 119–137.
Schultz W. and Finch O.D. 1997. Ein Tierarten-Klassifizierungsverfahren als Basis für biotoptypen-bezogene ökofaunistische Zustandsanalysen und Bewertungen. Zeitschrift Ökologie und Naturschutz 6: 151–168.
StatSoft 1996. Statistica for Windows (Handbook). StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Suter W. 1998. Involving conservation biology in biodiversity strategy and action planning. Biological Conservation 83: 235–237.
Ter Braak C.J.F. and Smilauer P. 1998. Canoco for Windows Version 4.0. Centre for Biometry, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Thiele H. 1977. Carabid beetles in their environments. Springer, Berlin, Germany.
Turin H. 2000. De Nederlandse Loopkevers. Verspreiding en Oecologie (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis: KNNV Uitgeverij, European Invertebrate Survey, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Turin H., Alders K., den Boers D.J., van Essen S., Heijerman T. and Laane W. 1991. Ecological characterization of carabid species (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in The Netherlands from thirty years of pitfall sampling. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 134: 279–304.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Irmler, U., Hoernes, U. Assignment and evaluation of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages to sites on different scales in a grassland landscape. Biodiversity and Conservation 12, 1405–1419 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023681827758
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023681827758