Landscape Heterogeneity Determines the Diversity and Life History Traits of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Abstract

Functional diversity is crucial to ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes. Intensive agriculture has led to habitat homogeneity and thus a decrease in biodiversity and the disappearance of useful epigeic fauna. This study investigated how local habitat types in an agricultural landscape affect the assemblage parameters (abundance, species richness and Shannon–Wiener diversity index) and life history traits of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). The study was conducted in four habitat types: Orchard, meadow, shrubs, and forest. In each type, 12 sampling transects were selected, in which individuals were caught in pitfall traps. Non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed significant differences in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblage composition between habitats. The generalized linear model showed that the habitat type influenced the beetles’ assemblage parameters and life history traits. Abundance, number of species, and species diversity were highest in the orchard. The occurrence of large brachypterous predators was also strongly dependent on habitat heterogeneity. Their presence in the orchard depended on their distance from semi-natural habitats (shrubs or forest). The results underscore the importance of habitat heterogeneity for populations of predatory Carabidae in intensively used agricultural landscapes and demonstrate the role of functional parameters, providing detailed information on agroecosystem condition and functioning.