Abstract
According to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), species diversity should be higher at sites with intermediate levels of disturbance. We tested this hypothesis using ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) collected in pitfall traps from sites that varied in time since last disturbance. This successional gradient was embedded in an urban landscape near Montreal, Quebec. We predicted that diversity in young forests and old fields would be higher than in agricultural fields and old forests. Fifty-five species (2932 individuals) were found in 2003 and 46 species (2207 individuals) in 2004. In both years, species richness was highest from traps placed in agricultural fields. We collected nine introduced species; these had higher catch rates than the native species in both years (64.8% of total catch). When introduced species were removed from the Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling ordination analysis, the assemblages from agricultural fields were less distinct compared to those of the other habitats, suggesting the introduced fauna is important in structuring carabid assemblages from the agricultural fields. Introduced species may play a significant role in the community composition of ground beetles in urban landscapes, and their influence may be the cause of the lack of support found for the IDH.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bousquet Y (1992) Bembidion femoratum Sturm and Amara communis (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) new to North America. J New York Entomol S 100:503–509
Bousquet Y, Larochelle A (1993) Catalogue of the Geadephaga (Coleoptera: Trahypachidae, Rhysodidae. Carabidae including Cicindelini) of America north of Mexico. Mem Entomol Soc Can 167:397
Buddle CM, Beguin J, Bolduc E, Mercado A, Sackett TE, Selby RD, Varady-Szabo H, Zeran RM (2005) The importance and use of taxon sampling curves for comparative biodiversity research with forest arthropod assemblages. Can Entomol 137:120–127
Colwell RK (1994–2004) EstimateS: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 7. User’s guide and application. Persistent URL: <http://www.purl.oclc.org/estimates>
Colwell RK, Coddington JA (1994) Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Philos T Roy Soc B 345:101–118
Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forest and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310
Downie NM, Arnett RH (1996) The beetles of northeastern North America, vol 1 and 2. Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville
du Bus de Warnaffe G, Lebrun P (2003) Effects of forest management on carabid beetles in Belgium: implications for biodiversity conservation. Biol Conserv 118:219–234
Gray JS (1989) Effects of environmental stress on species rich assemblages. Biol J Linn Soc 37:19–32
Grime JP (1973) Competitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation. Nature 242:344–347
Huston MA (1994) Biological diversity the coexistence of species on changing landscapes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Hutchinson GE (1959) Homage to Santa Rosalia or why are there so many kinds of animals? Am Nat 93:145–159
Johst K, Huth A (2005) Testing the intermediate disturbance hypothesis: when will there be two peaks of diversity? Divers Distrib 11:111–120
Koivula M, Niemelä J (2003) Gap felling as a forest harvesting method in boreal forests: responses of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Ecography 26:179–187
Koivula M, Punttila P, Haila Y, Niemelä J (1999) Leaf litter and the small-scale distribution of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in boreal forest. Ecography 22:424–435
Koivula M, Kukkonen J, Niemelä J (2002) Boreal carabid-beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblages along the clear-cut originated succession gradient. Biodivers Conserv 11:1269–1288
Kujuwa K, Sobczyk D, Kajak A (2006) Dispersal of Harpalus rufipes (Degeer) (Carabidae) between shelterbelt and cereal field. Pol J Ecol 54:243–252
Langor DW, Spence JR (2006) Arthropods as ecological indicators of sustainability in Canadian forests. Forest Chron 82(3):344–350
Larochelle A (1976) Manuel d’identification des carabidae du Québec. Cordulia, Supplement 1. Rigaud, Québec. 127 pp
Larochelle A (1990) The food of Carabid Beetles. Fabreries, Supplement 5. 132 pp
Larochelle A, Larivière MC (2003) A natural history of the ground-beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of America north of Mexico. Pensoft, Sofia
Levin SA, Paine RT (1974) Disturbance, patch formation and community structure. Proc Nat Acad Sci 71:2744–2747
Lindroth CH (1957) The faunal connections between Europe and North America. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Lindroth CH (1961–1969) The ground beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska, parts 1–6. Opuscula Entomologica Supplementa 20, 24, 29, 33, 34, 35, Lund, Sweden. x1viii+1192 pp
Magura T, Tóthmérész B, Molnár T (2004) Changes in carabid beetle assemblages along an urbanisation gradient in the city of Debrecen, Hungary. Landscape Ecol 19:747–759
McCullough DG, Work TT, Cavey JF, Liebhold AM, Marshall D (2006) Interceptions of nonindigenous plant pests at US ports of entry and border crossings over a 17-year period. Biol Invasions 8:611–630
McCune B, Mefford MJ (1999) PC-ORD: Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Version 4.17. MjM software design, Glenden Beach Oregon
Mercado Cárdenas A, Buddle CM (2007) Distribution and potential range expansion of seven introduced ground beetle species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Québec, Canada. Coleopt Bull 61:135–142
Niemelä J, Langor D, Spence JR (1993) Effects of clear-cut harvesting on boreal ground-beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in western Canada. Conserv Biol 7:551–561
Niemelä J, Kotze J, Ashworth A, Brandmayr P, Desender K, New T, Penev L, Samways M, Spence J (2000) The search for common anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity: a global network. J Insect Conserv 4:3–9
Niemelä J, Kotze DJ, Venn S, Penev L, Stoyanov I, Spence J, Hartley D, Montes de Oca E (2002) Carabid beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae) across urban-rural gradients: an international comparison. Landscape Ecol 17:387–401
Pearce JL, Venier LA (2006) The use of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and spiders (Araneae) as bioindicators of sustainable forest management: A review. Ecol Indicators 6:780–793
Pearce J, Schuurman D, Venier L, McKee J (2002) Carabid assemblage of an urban woodlot in Sault Ste Marie, Canada. Great Lakes Entomol 35:161–170
Rainio J, Niemelä J (2003) Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as bioindicators. Biodiv Conserv 12:487–506
Roxburgh SH, Shea K, Wilson JB (2004) The intermediate disturbance hypothesis: patch dynamics and mechanisms of species coexistence. Ecology 85:359–371
Saint-Germain M, Mauffette Y (2001) Reduced ground beetle activity following ice damage in maple stands of southwestern Quebec. Forest Chron 77:651–656
Saint-Germain M, Larrivée M, Drapeau P, Fahrig L, Buddle CM (2005) Short-term response of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to fire and logging in a spruce-dominated boreal landscape. For Ecol Manage 212:118–126
Shea K, Roxburgh SH, Rauschert ESJ (2004) Moving from pattern to process: coexistence mechanisms under intermediate disturbance regimes. Ecol Letters 7:491–508
Sheil D, Burslem DFRP (2002) Disturbing hypotheses in tropical forests. Trends Ecol Evol 18:18–26
Spence J (1990) Success of European Carabid Species in Western Canada: Preadaptation for Synanthropy? In: Stork NE (ed) The role of ground beetles in ecological and environmental studies. Intercept Ltd, Andover
Spence JR, Spence DH (1988) Of ground-beetles and men: introduced species and the synanthropic fauna of western Canada. Mem Entomol Soc Can 144:151–168
Tokeshi M (1999) Species coexistence. ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Blackwell, Oxford Malden
Vanbergen AJ, Woodcock BA, Watt AD, Niemelä J (2005) Effect of land-use heterogeneity on carabid communities at the landscape scale. Ecography 28:3–16
Vitousek PM, Dantonio CM, Loope LL, Westbrooks R (1996) Biological invasions as global environmental change. Am Sci 84:468–478
Wilkinson DM (1999) The disturbing history of intermediate disturbance. Oikos 84:145–147
Wootton JT (1998) Effects of disturbance on species diversity: a multitrophic perspective. Am Nat 152:803–825
Acknowledgements
We thank M. Saint-Germain, T. Wheeler, T. Work, R. Anderson and two anonymous reviewers for comments on early drafts of the manuscript. Dr. Yves Bousquet verified species identifications. J.P. Lessard, A. Hibbert and C. Cloutier assisted in the fieldwork. Support was provided by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery grant to C.M.B.), Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University and the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Summary of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) species collected in 2003/2004 by pitfall traps placed in agricultural fields (AGF), old fields (OFI), young forests (YF) and old forests (OFO). Abbreviations for species as used in figures are given.
Species | Abbrev. | AGF | OFI | YF | OFO | Total | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agonum affine Kirby | AGAF | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 3 | Native | |
Agonum cupripenne (Say) | AGCU | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Agonum lutulentum (LeConte) | AGLU | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Agonum melanarium Dejean | AGME | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Agonum muelleri (Herbst) | AGMU | 11/19 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 30 | Introduced | |
Agonum palustre Goulet | AGPA | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | Native | |
Agonum placidum (Say) | AGPL | 2/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | Native | |
Agonum punctiforme Say | AGPU | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Agonum trigeminum Lindroth | AGTR | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Amara carinata (LeConte) | AMCA | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Amara cupreolata Putzeys | AMCU | 9/0 | 7/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 17 | Native | |
Amara discors Kirby | AMDI | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Amara flebilis (Casey) | AMFL | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Amara littoralis Mannerheim | AMLI | 8/6 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 17 | Native | |
Amara neoscotica Casey | AMNE | 0/20 | 0/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 25 | Native | |
Amara otiosa Casey | AMOT | 0/0 | 3/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Amara sp. | Amsp | 0/1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | ||
Amphasia interstitialis (Say) | AMIN | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 2 | Native | |
Anisodactylus discoideus Dejean | ANDI | 0/0 | 2/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | Native | |
Anisodactylus harrisii LeConte | ANHA | 1/0 | 16/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 17 | Native | |
Anisodactylus sanctaecrucis (Fabricius) | ANSA | 0/6 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 7 | Native | |
Badister notatus Haldeman | BANO | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1 | Native | |
Badister obtusus LeConte | BAOB | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Bembidion frontale (LeConte) | BEFR | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Bembidion graciliforme Hayward | BEGR | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1 | Native | |
Bembidion mimus Hayward | BEMI | 4/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4 | Native | |
Bembidion nitidum (Kirby) | BENI | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Bembidion obtusum Audinet-Serville | BEOB | 0/3 | 4/8 | 51/5 | 26/12 | 109 | Introduced | |
Bembidion quadrimaculatum Say | BEQU | 41/51 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 95 | Native | |
Bembidion versicolor (LeConte) | BEVE | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Brachinus ovipennis LeConte | BROV | 0/0 | 11/0 | 3/0 | 0/0 | 14 | Native | |
Bradycellus nigriceps LeConte | BRNI | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1 | Native | |
Bradycellus rupestris (Say) | BRRU | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Carabus granulatus Linnaeus | CAGR | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Introduced | |
Carabus nemoralis Muller | CANE | 148/1 | 8/19 | 40/66 | 7/4 | 293 | Introduced | |
Chlaenius emarginatus Say | CHEM | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Chlaenius impunctifrons Say | CHIM | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 | 2 | Native | |
Chlaenius tricolor Dejean | CHTR | 1/0 | 6/0 | 44/0 | 0/0 | 51 | Native | |
Cicindela punctulata Olivier | CIPU | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Cicindela repanda repanda Dejean | CIRE | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Cicindela sexguttata Fabricius | CISE | 0/0 | 32/1 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 34 | Native | |
Clivina fossor Linnaeus | CLFO | 0/6 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 7 | Introduced | |
Diplocheila obtusa (LeConte) | DIOB | 0/0 | 0/4 | 0/1 | 1/0 | 6 | Native | |
Dyschiriodes pilosus (LeConte) | DYPI | 7/35 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 42 | Native | |
Elaphropus incurvus Say | ELIN | 2/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 7 | Native | |
Geopinus incrassatus (Dejean) | GEIN | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Harpalus affinis (Schrank) | HAAF | 1/7 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 8 | Introduced | |
Harpalus erraticus Say | HAER | 23/8 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 31 | Native | |
Harpalus herbivagus Say | HAHE | 3/6 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 10 | Native | |
Harpalus pensylvanicus (DeGeer) | HAPE | 11/329 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 340 | Native | |
Harpalus plenalis Casey | HAPL | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Harpalus rufipes (DeGeer) | HARU | 1333/731 | 6/22 | 17/0 | 1/0 | 2110 | Introduced | |
Harpalus solitaris Dejean | HASO | 0/0 | 3/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Notiophilus aeneus (Herbst) | NOAE | 0/0 | 0/0 | 9/1 | 0/0 | 10 | Native | |
Olisthpus parmatus (Say) | OLPA | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Oxypselaphus pusillus (LeConte) | OXPU | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Patrobus longicornis (Say) | PALO | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1 | Native | |
Platynus decentis (Say) | PLDE | 0/0 | 0/0 | 5/3 | 1/0 | 9 | Native | |
Poecilus chalcites (Say) | POCH | 177/161 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 339 | Native | |
Poecilus lucublandus (Say) | POLU | 45/210 | 87/57 | 88/14 | 19/21 | 541 | Native | |
Pterostichus caudicalis (Say) | PTCA | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 2 | Native | |
Pterostichus corvinus (Dejean) | PTCO | 0/0 | 1/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger) | PTME | 418/152 | 15/17 | 41/39 | 8/81 | 771 | Introduced | |
Pterostichus mutus (Say) | PTMU | 0/0 | 0/0 | 15/0 | 10/3 | 28 | Native | |
Pterostichus patruelis (Dejean) | PTPA | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Native | |
Pterostichus pensylvanicus LeConte | PTPE | 0/0 | 0/0 | 13/2 | 2/3 | 20 | Native | |
Pterostichus tristis Dejean | PTTR | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1 | Native | |
Pterostichus vernalis (Panzer) | PTVE | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | Introduced | |
Sphaeroderus canadensis Chaudoir | SPCA | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3/0 | 3 | Native | |
Sphaeroderus lecontei Dejean | SPLE | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/4 | 18/0 | 23 | Native | |
Stenolophus comma (Fabricius) | STCO | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | Native | |
Synuchus impunctatus (Say) | SYIM | 0/5 | 0/1 | 6/6 | 25/2 | 45 | Native | |
Tetragonoderus fasciatus (Haldeman) | TEFA | 7/7 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 14 | Native | |
Total collection | 4041 | 351 | 488 | 259 | 5139 | |||
Number of species | 39 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 73 | |||
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mercado Cárdenas, A., Buddle, C.M. Introduced and native ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) along a successional gradient in an urban landscape. J Insect Conserv 13, 151–163 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9137-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9137-6