The Assemblage of Beetles in the Olive Grove and Surrounding Mediterranean Shrublands in Portugal

Abstract

The olive tree is perfectly adapted to the Mediterranean region, where it represents high economic, social, and landscape importance, olive orchards being an important repository of biodiversity. The order Coleoptera encompasses families that provide important ecosystem services, such as pest limitation. The objective of this work was to compare the assemblage of families of Beetles between the olive grove and their surrounding semi‐natural landscape in Trás‐os‐Montes. The ground beetles on four olive groves and their adjacent shrubland areas were sampled using pitfall traps near Mirandela (Northeastern Portugal) in May and June of 2015 and 2016. Anthicidae, Staphylinidae, and Scarabaeidae dominated the community. The richness of the families was significantly greater in the olive grove in both years of study. On the contrary, the overall diversity did not significantly differ. In both years, the complementarity between the areas was low, reflecting similar communities in terms of families. Predators were dominant in both habitats; therefore, the surrounding landscape could act as shelter and provide alternative resources to the community of Coleoptera inhabiting the olive grove during disturbances derived from agricultural management.