Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Diversity and Body-Size
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Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Diversity and Body-Size Variation in Four Land Use Types in a Mountainous Area Near Beijing, China Author(s): Xin Zhang, Guishen Zhao, Xuzhu Zhang, Xiao Li, Zhenrong Yu, Yunhui Liu and Hongbin Liang Source: The Coleopterists Bulletin, 71(2):402-412. Published By: The Coleopterists Society https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-71.2.402 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1649/0010-065X-71.2.402 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/ terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 71(2): 402–412. 2017. GROUND BEETLE (COLEOPTERA:CARABIDAE)DIVERSITY AND BODY-SIZE VARIATION IN FOUR LAND USE TYPES IN A MOUNTAINOUS AREA NEAR BEIJING,CHINA XIN ZHANG,GUISHEN ZHAO,XUZHU ZHANG,XIAO LI,ZHENRONG YU,YUNHUI LIU College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, CHINA [email protected] AND HONGBIN LIANG Institute of Zoology, China Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, CHINA [email protected] ABSTRACT Mountainous areas are characterized by high biological diversity but are threatened by agricultural reclamation. To evaluate the effects of agricultural land use and woody crop intercropping on carabid diversity in mountainous regions, we compared the diversity of carabid beetles and their body size compositions in two walnut plantations (monoculture and newly established intercropping system) and two secondary succession habitats (secondary forest and grassland) in 2011 and 2012. Carabid activity-abundance did not differ among the walnut plantations and secondary succession habitats for both sampling years, and species richness was higher in the walnut monoculture in 2012. However, the secondary succession habitats harbored more large carabid individuals than the walnut plantations. All of the carabid species compositions in the walnut plantations differed from those in the secondary succession habitats, whereas the species compositions of large carabids in the walnut plantations differed from those in the secondary succession habitats in 2012 but were similar in 2011. We conclude that converting secondary succession lands to walnut plantations had little effect on both the alpha diversity and species turnover of carabid assemblages, but the secondary succession lands were essential for sustaining diverse large carabids, which comprised conserved species and natural control agents. The newly introduced walnut-chrysanthemum intercropping system did not produce significant short-term losses in carabid diversity compared with the walnut monoculture system, but the concept that the walnut-chrysanthemum intercropping system could serve as a trade-off between production and biodiversity conservation will require long-term monitoring. Key Words: ground beetles, biodiversity conservation, land use change, intercropping, woody crop DOI.org/10.1649/0010-065X-71.2.402 Mountainous areas are characterized by high (Fu et al. 2006a,b) and changes in biodiversity biological diversity because they contain a high (Menon and Bawa 1997; MacDonald et al. 2000; concentration of environmental gradients and Mitchley et al. 2006), have been essential for habitat heterogeneity (Myers et al. 2000; K¨orner monitoring the sustainability of agricultural land et al. 2005; Spehn et al. 2010). This high diversity in reclamation in mountainous areas. According to mountainous areas has great potential in terms of earlier studies in plains across the world, land use biodiversity conservation. Mountains are estimated changes resulting from agricultural production lead to support approximately one-quarter of the world’s to a loss of biodiversity (Reidsma et al. 2006; terrestrial biodiversity and include nearly half of the Trisurat et al. 2010) and changes in functional world’s biodiversity “hotspots” (Myers et al. 2000; composition (Clavel et al. 2011; Tscharntke et al. Myers and Kent 2004). 2012) that could potentially lead to a decline in Unfortunately, many mountainous lands are ecological services essential for sustainable devel- reclaimed for agricultural production in developing opment (Ostfeld and Logiudice 2003; Gagic et al. countries to feed the increasing human population 2012). However, plantations diversified by inter- (Li and Wang 2003; Mitchley et al. 2006). Woody cropping a woody cash crop with other crops cash crops, mainly fruit or nut trees, are commonly could serve as an efficient way to conserve local selected for plantations as a compromise between biodiversity via agricultural management (Doblas- improving the local livelihood and keeping as much Miranda et al. 2014; Gibbs et al. 2016). This raises perennial vegetation cover as possible. Environ- the question of whether woody cropping or woody mental evaluations, including soil and water erosion crop-based intercropping systems would result in 402 THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 71(2), 2017 403 substantial changes in the functional composition successional lands were reclaimed for walnut and loss of biodiversity and how biodiversity in the plantations. Recently, a creative agroforestry sys- mountainous region would be impacted by such an tem, in which chrysanthemum and walnut were agricultural strategy. The answers to these questions intercropped on the plantation, was developed for are the foundation for developing an approach that sightseeing as an example of a prosperous plantation balances biodiversity conservation with the pro- for agritourists. The sampling plots were located at duction of substantial economic commodities to Puwa Town (E115° 350 – 115° 460, N39° 430 – 39° improve local livelihoods (Mitchley et al. 2006). 490) with an elevation range of 407 to 1,870 m. Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are im- The town is dominated by natural secondary portant predators in agroecosystems (Holland forest, primarily composed of Quercus liaotungensis 2002). We investigated the diversity of Carabidae in Koidz (Fagaceae), Carpinus turczaninowii Hance habitats of different land use types in the moun- (Betulaceae), Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco tainous area of Beijing to evaluate the beetles’ re- (Cupressaceae), Populus davidiana Dode (Salica- sponses to land use changes. These beetles are ceae), and Juglans mandshurica Maximowicz relatively well known taxonomically and ecologi- (Juglandaceae); the remaining habitats are com- cally, suitable for standardized sampling, and are prised of brush land (31%), alpine meadow (10%) sensitive to environmental changes (L¨ovei and and secondary forest (3%). Because the high Sunderland 1996; Rainio and Niemel¨a 2003). proportion of secondary forest serves as an im- However, there are highly divergent ecological traits portant habitat for Red List plants (such as Tilia within the family that would result in varied re- amurensis Rupr. (Tiliaceae), Phellodendron amur- sponses to anthropogenic disturbances (Purtauf ense Rupr. (Rutaceae),andGlycine soja (Siebold et al. 2005; Gobbi and Fontaneto 2008). Therefore, and Zucc.) (Fabaceae)), Red List birds (Cross- it could be important to incorporate carabid func- optilon mantchuricum Swinhoe), and the local tional traits (such as wing morphology, diet, and endangered Chinese bee (Apis cerana Fabricius), body size) into analyses for a more accurate as- the town was designated as a nature reserve of sessment of the impacts of land use changes (Purtauf Beijing in 2005. In addition to secondary suc- et al. 2005; Gobbi and Fontaneto 2008). We made cessional vegetation cover, there were 227 ha of the following hypotheses: 1) converting secondary farmland, which accounted for 2.48% of the total forests and natural succession meadows to walnut area, and 50 ha of walnut forests in Puwa Town. plantations would significantly change the carabid Walnut monoculture systems were introduced in body-size composition; 2) both walnut mono- the early 1990s. The walnut-chrysanthemum system culture and walnut-chrysanthemum intercropping was created in 2011 by planting 11 chrysanthemum systems would sustain less biodiversity and have varieties of six colors under established walnut trees smaller species than the more natural habitats; and to form a unique chrysanthemum terrace landscape 3) a walnut-chrysanthemum intercropping system that was intended to attract tourists and increase would sustain greater biodiversity than a walnut the output per unit area. Chemical fertilizer (diam- monoculture system. Finally, we further explored monium phosphate) and NPK compound-fertilizer (N:P: how changes in carabid biodiversity relate to en- K 5 28:6:6) and green manure were used one or two vironmental variables in different land use types to times in the spring. Pesticides (cypermethrin) were enable