Vol. 27, No. 1 15 The Biodiversity of Beetles in the Maritime Provinces Christopher G. Majka Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3A6
[email protected] nderstanding invertebrate biodiversity is a Beetles (Coleoptera) are thought to be Utall order, something apparent to anyone the most species-rich order of organisms in who has attempted to bite off even a minute the world. Estimates vary of how many there slice of this very large pie. As many investi- may be, however, Terry Erwin, a coleopterist gators have pointed out there is a “taxonomic working with the Smithsonian Institution has deficit” in the biological community today as estimated that as many 20 million species exist universities and training institutions gravitate worldwide (Erwin 1991), perhaps a quarter of towards molecular and genetic studies, and the ~ 80 million species of insects. Only some government funding for taxonomic, systematic, 350,000 species of beetles have been described, and biodiversity studies remains very meager. of which ~ 25,160 have been recorded in North Yet being able to identify organisms and deter- America (Marske and Ivie 2003). mine the species composition of environments A major step in understanding the beetle is not only an important activity per se, but is fauna of Canada was the publication in 1991 of also pivotal to the understanding of ecology, the Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska endangered species, climate change, intro- (Bousquet 1991). This enumerated 7,447 spe- duced and invasive species, and the environ- cies in Canada including 1,365 from New mental impacts of anthropogenic activities.