The Vjosa-Floodplains in Albania As Natural Habitat for Ground Beetles: a Hotspot of Rare and Stenotopic Species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) 269-306 © Zool.-Bot
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ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Frueher: Verh.des Zoologisch-Botanischen Vereins in Wien. seit 2014 "Acta ZooBot Austria" Jahr/Year: 2018 Band/Volume: 155_1 Autor(en)/Author(s): Paill Wolfgang, Gunczy Johanna, Hristovski Slavcho Artikel/Article: The Vjosa-floodplains in Albania as natural habitat for ground beetles: a hotspot of rare and stenotopic species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) 269-306 © Zool.-Bot. Ges. Österreich, Austria; download unter www.zobodat.at Acta ZooBot Austria 155, 2018, 269–306 The Vjosa-floodplains in Albania as natural habitat for ground beetles: a hotspot of rare and stenotopic species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Wolfgang Paill, Johanna Gunczy & Slavčo Hristovski The ground beetle fauna of the Vjosa floodplains in Albania near Kutë and Poçem was studied in the spring of 2017 over a period of five days. 112 species were documented on the basis of 2.327 captured individuals. Three species (Dyschirius abditus (Fedorenko, 1993), Demetrias imperialis (Germar, 1823) and Microlestes fulvibasis (Reitter, 1901)) were reported for the first time for Albania, three others Cylindera( germanica muel- leri (Magistretti, 1966), Cylindera arenaria viennensis (Schrank, 1781) and Thalas- sophilus longicornis (Sturm, 1825)) were documented for the first time with detailed and trusted data for this country. Several other taxa were found for the second time or were rediscovered after many years. From other parts of the Vjosa valley, two further new or unequivocally documented species for Albania, Cylindera germanica germanica (Linnaeus, 1758) and Parazuphium chevrolatii (Laporte, 1833) were reported. Within the study area near Kutë, the highest numbers of carabid species and specimens were caught on silty and moist sediment bars with initial to pioneer vegetation situated either directly along the main channel of the Vjosa or in drying, regularly flooded side arms. Wetlands with reed mace stands at the outer edge of the active floodplain also showed outstanding carabid biodiversity. In addition to the extraordinary number of species and the high proportion of steno- topic floodplain inhabitants, in particular the rich local population numbers of the beetles Cicindela monticola albanica, Bembidion brunoi, Bembidion quadricolle, Bem- bidion striatum, Stenolophus discophorus, and Poecilus striatopunctatus, which are very rare throughout of Europe, proves the international importance of nature conserva- tion of the Vjosa. PAILL W., GUNCZY J. & HRISTOVSKI S., 2018: Die Vjosa-Auen in Albanien als na- türlicher Lebensraum für Laufkäfer: Ein Hotspot seltener und anspruchsvoller Arten. Die Laufkäferfauna der Vjosa-Auen in Albanien bei Kutë nahe Poçem wurde im Früh- jahr 2017 über einen Zeitraum von fünf Tagen untersucht. Dabei konnten 112 Arten auf der Basis von 2.327 gefangenen Individuen dokumentiert werden. Drei Arten (Dy- schirius abditus (Fedorenko, 1993), Demetrias imperialis (Germar, 1823) und Micro- lestes fulvibasis (Reitter, 1901)) wurden erstmals für Albanien gemeldet, drei weite- re (Cylindera germanica muelleri (Magistretti, 1966), Cylindera arenaria viennensis (Schrank, 1781) und Thalassophilus longicornis (Sturm, 1825)) erstmals mit detail- lierten und vertrauenswürdigen Daten für dieses Land belegt. Für zahlreiche weiter Taxa wurden Zweitfunde oder Wiederfunde nach vielen Jahren getätigt. Aus anderen Teilen des Vjosatals wurden zwei weitere Arten erstmals zweifelsfrei für Albanien do- kumentiert Cylindera germanica germanica (Linnaeus, 1758) und Parazuphium chev- rolatii (Laporte, 1833). Innerhalb des Untersuchungsgebietes bei Kutë wurden die höchsten Arten- und In- dividuenzahlen an Laufkäfern auf feuchten, schluffigen Pionierflächen, sowohl di- rekt am Hauptfluss als auch in austrocknenden, regelmäßig überfluteten Seitenarmen nachgewiesen. Röhrichte am äußeren Rand der aktiven Auenzone erwiesen sich eben- falls als Zentren der Laufkäfer-Biodiversität. Neben der außergewöhnlichen Artenzahl und dem hohen Anteil stenotoper Auenbe- wohner belegen insbesondere die erheblichen Populationsgrößen der europaweit sehr seltenen Laufkäfer Cicindela monticola albanica, Bembidion brunoi, Bembidion qua- dricolle, Bembidion striatum, Stenolophus discophorus und Poecilus striatopunctatus die internationale naturschutzfachliche Bedeutung der Vjosa. Keywords: river Vjosa, floodplain, carabid beetles, ground beetles, faunistics, ecology, international conservation value. © Zool.-Bot. Ges. Österreich, Austria; download unter www.zobodat.at 270 Paill W., Gunczy J. & Hristovski S. Introduction Ground beetles are known to be highly diverse in natural alluvial systems, including a considerable number of specialized stenotopic species (e.g. Antvogel & Bonn 2001, Eyre et al. 2001, Manderbach & Hering 2001, Kahlen 2010). Especially along the riparian zones, they inhabit numerous different microhabitats, making them sensi- tive and valuable indicators (e.g. Boscaini et al. 2000, Günther & Assmann 2005, Kleinwaechter & Rickfelder 20 07, Gerisch 2011, Baiocchi et al. 2012). The knowledge of carabid beetles in Albania is comparatively good. In a very important paper, Guéorguiev (2007a) comprised the complete data from faunistic as well as sys- tematic literature and reviewed Albanian collections and the most relevant European col- lections including Albanian samples. However, the intensity of collecting was poor, es- pecially during the last decades. This fact becomes apparent when screening available data from more or less common beetles, e.g. Clivina collaris, Paratachys micros, Harpalus pumilus, or Oodes gracilis, as they are represented only by single records (see Guéorguiev 2007a). After Guéorguiev (2007a), who listed 543 species, three new troglobiontic spe- cies were described for Albania (Bulirsch & Guéorguiev 2008, Lohaj et al. 2016), and seven species were recorded for the first time in this country (Jaskuła 2007b, Bulirsch & Pavićević 2008, Jaeger et al. 2016, Kataev & Wrase 2016), leaving three Carabus-species (Carabus auronitens, Carabus glabratus, Carabus hungaricus) uncritically published by Striniqi Laçej et al. (2010) and Striniqi Laçej & Misja (2012, 2015) out of consideration. Before our study was conducted, 31 carabid beetles from the Vjosa river had been document- ed, 20 of which during the last three centuries (Guéorguiev 2007a, Bulirsch & Pavićević 2008). In addition, almost nothing had been published about the ecology of floodplain carabids of the central parts of the Balkan Peninsula. Material and Methods The study is focused on an area of a few kilometers around the village of Kutë, positioned between Kalivaç and Poçem. In this part, the Vjosa river represents a bar- and island-braid- ed, widely undisturbed river-floodplain type. The heterogeneity within the active channel (“floodplain proper”) is very high due to the hydro-geomorphic dynamics. An important aspect is the high content of silt transported by the river, and the low extent of floodplain forests apparently restricted by human use. Backwater or wetland conditions are also very limited at the outer side of the floodplain (see Schiemer et al. 2018 this volume). The collection of beetles was restricted to the floodplain-system of the river. The material was collected during a sampling period in the spring of 2017 (24.04.–28.04.2017). In five days, 150 pitfall traps (plastic jar, diameter = 7 cm, height = 10 cm, filled with a 6% vin- egar solution and detergent) were applied on 30 sites, supplemented by 20 hand collection sites. Collecting was conducted by Wolfgang Paill, Johanna Gunczy, Gernot Kunz and Thomas Frank. While the pitfall traps were set up for 5 days, hand-collecting was done at least 30 minutes on each site, either during the day or at nighttime. In order to gain data on the habitat use of the carabids, the sites were strictly delimited, intending to keep habi- tat characteristics as homogenous as possible. Besides this standardized collecting scheme, further data from hand-colleting done over larger areas or along transition zones of habi- © Zool.-Bot. Ges. Österreich, Austria; download unter www.zobodat.at The Vjosa-floodplains in Albania as natural habitat for ground beetles: a hotspot of rare and stenotopic species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) 271 tat types or single catches by chance were incorporated, abdicating an assignment to the habitat types classified above. Habitat classification In cooperation with botanist Anton Drescher, the sites were dedicated to a simple scheme of classification of habitat types (partly following Schiemer et al. 2018 this volume). With- in the active floodplain, 11 major types were differentiated by regarding in particular 1) the sediment composition (grain size diameter) as a factor of germination (water capacity), 2) the intervals and dimension of flow pulses resulting in a time span for vegetation, and 3) the situation of the groundwater table and its connection with the fine-grained sediment cover i.e. water retention capacity. B1 to B2 and C1 to C4 represent an increasing age of ± undisturbed vegetation development. Regularly flooded niveaus within the active floodplain of the Vjosa l B1: Initial stage on coarse-grained (mostly gravel) sediment bars without vegetation [sites: 37, 38, 39, 42/2, 43, 44, 47; see Fig. 5] l B2: Pioneer stage on coarse-grained (mostly gravel) sediment bars with seedlings of annual and perennial herbs and wood species