Diversity of carabid beetles (coleoptera: Carabidae) under three grassland management regimes in northwestern china

Abstract

Enclosures, mowing, and sustainable grazing were used to help restore biodiversity and the production of the natural grasslands in China. The effects of grassland management on invertebrate diversity and its associated environmental factors were less reported in northern China. The relationship between the activity-density of carabid beetles and environmental factors was conducted under three different grassland management regimes (typical enclosure, enclosed mowing, and farmer grazing practice) in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwestern China, from May to September 2017. Eighteen species from nine genera were collected in all regimes. The largest size of species and individuals occurred in mid-August, and species diversity and abundance were significantly greater in the typical enclosure area and the enclosed mowing area compared to the grazed area. The dominant species were Carabus vladimirskyi and Poecillus gebleri in enclosure areas and mowing areas while was Carabus glyptoterus in grazing areas. The key environmental factors associated with the activity-density of carabid beetles were soil organic matter, phosphorus, plant coverage, and plant density in enclosure areas and mowing areas. But soil temperature and pH were the main factors in grazing areas. This study implied that conservation of biodiversity requires consideration of different environmental condition in different grassland management regimes. Moreover, soil and vegetation restoration were more important for enhancing biodiversity in a grazed area than in enclosures and mowed areas in northwestern China.