J. Elementol. 2010, 15(3): 581–591 581 CONTENT OF ORGANIC C AND pH OF BOG AND POST-BOG SOILS VERSUS THE PRESENCE OF GROUND BEETLES CARABIDAE IN STARY DWÓR NEAR OLSZTYN Mariusz Nietupski1, Pawe³ Sowiñski2, Wojciech S¹dej1, Agnieszka Kosewska1 1Chair of Fitopatology and Entomology 2Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Abstract The present study consisted of an evaluation of assemblages of epigeic carabid beetles (Col. Carabidae) colonizing hydrogenic soils (bog and post-bog ones), different in the soil development degree. The observations were conducted on a drained, low bog area called Stary Dwór, which today is used as a cut meadow. This is an oblong depression, filled in with (partly mucky) rush peats and situated in the sandur landscape. It lies in the mesore- gion called Pojezierze Olsztyñskie (Olsztyn Lake District) near Olsztyn (UTM DE 65), abo- ut 3 km of the southern borders of the town. The field observations for determination of the soil type were conducted using soil catenas. A transect was established, which cut across different types and sub-types of bog and post-bog soils. In this paper, the authors have attempted to answer the question whether the sequence of hydrogenic soils and some pa- rameters chosen to describe them have any influence on assemblages of epigeic carabid beetles dwelling in such habitats. Based on the results, it has been concluded that the soils present in the analyzed peat bog were characterized by the following sequence: muckous soils → peat-muck soils → peat soils. Their properties depended on the position in the soil relief, advancement of muck formation and content of organic carbon. It has been found out that the highest soil ash content in the surface horizons was in muckous soil (90.39%), and the lowest – in profile 3 of peat-muck soil (18.77%). The reaction of the analyzed soils ranged from slightly acidic to neutral and tended to decrease towards the centre of the depression, reaching the lowest value in peat soil. During the two years of our observa- tions, a total of 673 individuals of Carabidae belonging to 29 species were captured. It has dr in¿. Mariusz Nietupski, Chair of Fitopatology and Entomology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Prawocheñskiego 17, 10-722 Olsztyn, Poland, e-mail: mariusz.nietup- [email protected] 582 been determined that the type of soil as a factor significantly affected the number of cap- tured carabid beetles, but did not influence the species abundance. The decreasing pH gra- dient as well as an increasing content of organic C were associated with a decreasing num- ber of the species of carabid beeetles tolerant to moisture conditions (mesophilous species), which were being replaced by hygrophilous individuals. As the acidic reaction of soil incre- ased and the soil content of organic matter rose, so did the abundance of mixophagous species at the expense of predatory individuals. Key words: organic C, soil pH, Carabidae, bog soils, post-bog soils. ZAWARTOŒÆ C ORGANICZNEGO I pH GLEB BAGIENNYCH I POBAGIENNYCH A WYSTÊPOWANIE NAZIEMNYCH CARABIDAE W OBIEKCIE STARY DWÓR k. OLSZTYNA Abstrakt W badaniach poddano ocenie zgrupowania epigeicznych biegaczowatych (Col., Carabi- dae) zasiedlaj¹cych gleby hydrogeniczne (bagienne i pobagienne) o ró¿nym stopniu rozwo- ju. Terenem badañ by³o odwodnione torfowisko niskie Stary Dwór, u¿ytkowane jako ³¹ka koœna. Obiekt stanowi pod³u¿ne zag³êbienie wype³nione torfami szuwarowymi (czêœciowo zmursza³ymi) w krajobrazie sandrowym. Jest on zlokalizowany w mezoregionie Pojezierza Olsztyñskiego, w pobli¿u Olsztyna (UTM DE 65), w odleg³oœci ok. 3 km od po³udniowych granic miasta. Prace terenowe, w których okreœlano typ gleby, prowadzono metod¹ katen glebowych. Wyznaczono transekt przebiegaj¹cy przez ró¿ne typy i podtypy gleb bagiennych i pobagiennych. W pracy próbowano uzyskaæ odpowiedŸ na pytanie, czy sekwencja gleb hydrogenicznych oraz wybrane parametry opisuj¹ce te gleby maj¹ wp³yw na zgrupowania zasiedlaj¹cych je epigeicznych biegaczowatych. Stwierdzono, ¿e opisane na badanym torfo- wisku gleby charakteryzowa³y siê nastêpuj¹c¹ sekwencj¹: gleby murszaste → gleby torfo- wo-murszowe → gleby torfowe. Ich w³aœciwoœci by³y uzale¿nione od usytuowania w relie- fie, zaawansowania procesu murszenia oraz zawartoœci C organicznego. Najwiêksz¹ popielnoœæ stwierdzono w poziomach powierzchniowych gleby murszastej (90,39%), nato- miast najni¿sz¹ w profilu 3 (18,77%) gleby torfowo-murszowej. Odczyn badanych gleb kszta³- towa³ siê od lekko kwaœnego do obojêtnego i mala³ w kierunku centrum obni¿enia, osi¹ga- j¹c najni¿sze wartoœci w glebie torfowej. W czasie dwuletnich obserwacji na badanym obiekcie od³owiono ³¹cznie 673 osobniki Carabidae nale¿¹ce do 29 gatunków. Stwierdzono, ¿e typ gleby okaza³ siê czynnikiem istotnie wp³ywaj¹cym na liczbê od³owionych osobników Carabidae, natomiast nie wp³ywa³ na ich bogactwo gatunkowe. Malej¹cy gradient pH oraz wzrastaj¹ca zawartoœæ C organicznego wi¹za³y siê ze spadkiem liczebnoœci osobników bada- nej grupy chrz¹szczy, ma³o wra¿liwych na zmieniaj¹ce siê warunki wilgotnoœciowe (mezofi- le), i zastêpowaniem ich przez osobniki wilgociolubne. Wraz ze zwiêkszaj¹c¹ siê kwasowo- œci¹ gleby i zawartoœci¹ materii organicznej wzrasta³a równie¿ liczebnoœæ miksofagów, kosztem zmniejszania siê grupy osobników drapie¿nych. S³owa kluczowe: C organiczny, pH gleby, Carabidae, gleby bagienne, gleby pobagienne. 583 INTRODUCTION Soil properties are of an immense importance for the shaping of compo- nents of agrocenoses, and especially populations of arthropods dwelling in soil habitats. Among arthropods, carabid beetles are a very important and valuable group of animals, very strongly connected with the soil environ- ment. These beetles are mostly predators, hence they can limit gradation of phytophagous animals; besides, they are commonly used for zoological indi- cation (RAINIO, NIEMELA 2003). Soil properties are characterized by a number of physical and chemical parameters, which also affect Carabidae. Some of the more important chemical properties of soil are soil reaction (pH), soil salinity and soil content of calcium carbonate. Other important properties of soil are the particle size distribution and soil content of organic matter. These factors have a large influence on soil microclimate, including soil moisture and temperature. The vertical gradient of changes in these param- eters affects migration of soil invertebrates and modifications in quantita- tive ratios between trophic groups of these organisms (BEZKOROVAINAYA, YASHIKHIN 2003). S¥DEJ et al. (2008) demonstrated a significant, positive effect of the content of organic C and positive effect of total nitrogen in lessive soil on the density of soil macrofauna. This article deals with an assessment of epigeic carabid beetles dwelling on hydrogenic soils (bog and post-bog soils), different in the development degree. The properties of these soils in the surface horizon, for example specific and bulk density, total porosity and pH, differed as well. The au- thors hoped to answer the question whether the sequence of hydrogenic soils and the analyzed soil parameters had some influence on epigeic cara- bid beetles which colonized these soils. THE RESEARCH AREA AND METHODS The study was carried out on a drained, low bog area called Stary Dwór, now used as a cut meadow. This is an oblong depression filled in with (part- ly mucky) rush peats in the sandur landscape. It is situated in the mesore- gion called Pojezierze Olsztyñskie (Olsztyn Lake District) near Olsztyn (UTM DE 65), about 3 km south of the town’s borders. The field tests were car- ried out with the soil catena method. A transect was established that ran across different types and sub-types of bog and post-bog soils. The sequence of soils within the analyzed areas was as follows (from the edges towards the centre): – muckous soils GM, – peat-muck soils GMT1 and GMT2, – peat soils GT. 584 The soil samples underwent the following determinations: ash content, bulk density, reaction and content of organic matter (Corg). The determina- tions were performed with the methods used in soil sciences for organic and mineral formations (SAPEK, SAPEK 1997). Longwise the established transect, four modified Barber traps were set up, one on each of the analyzed types of soil. They were filled with a fixing liquid and exposed from May to Octo- ber in 2006 and 2007. The collected material was analyzed in terms of its species composition, dominance structure and zoogeography. In addition, the ecological characterization of the captured speciemens of Carabidae was drawn (THIELE 1977). The structure (classes) of dominance of the carabids was presented according to the following pattern: superdominants (>30%), eudominants (30-10%), dominants (10-5.1%), subdominants (5-2.1%), recedents (2-1.1%) and subrecedents (≥1%) (GÓRNY, GRÜM 1981). The siginifance of dif- ferences between the number of species and individuals captured on the analyzed types of soil was evaluated with the ANOVA analysis of variance, using the software package Statistica 8.0 PL. In order to describe changea- bility of Carabidae assemblages dwelling on the analyzed types of soil, differ- ent in soil parameters, ordinance techniques were used with an aid of the software package Canoco v. 4.5 (TER BRAAK 1986). The statistical significance of canonical axes was established with Monte Carlo tests. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The soils present in the analyzed peatland belong to the division of hy- drogenic soils (division IV), to the order of bog (order IVa) and post-bog soils (order IVb). The latter soil was represented by the type of muck soils, sub- type of peat-muck (GMT1 and GMT2) soils and by mucky soils belonging to the subtype of muckous soils. Bog soils are the peat soils of lowland bogs, characterized by active accumulation of organic sedmients (e.g. peat), which can accumulate to over 30 cm in thickness. The peat soil found in the cen- tre of the analyzed area was developed from lowland, rush peat, moderately (R2) and strongly (R3) decomposed.