Item Details

title

GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) AS BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS FOR AGE STRUCTURE IN PIEDMONT FORESTS?

author

Riley, Kathryn Nicole

abstract

This study examined the diversity, community composition, and wing state of Carabidae as a function of forest age and identified eighteen species as potential ecological indicators for forest age. Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are typically ground-dwelling, generalist predators. Carabids were collected monthly through pitfall traps from March 2009 through February 2010 from 33 sites representing 5 forest classes approximately 0, 10, 50, 85, and 150 years old. 2,568 individuals were collected, representing 29 genera and 66 species. Carabid species diversity was significantly different between the oldest and youngest forest age classes for some but not all of six diversity indices. Although most carabid species can be considered generalists, occurring in all or most of the forest age classes, carabid species composition still varied significantly across classes. The results of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) ordination both show a clear separation of forest age classes in terms of beetle community composition. Eighteen carabid species were identified as potential candidates for ecological indicators of forest age. The proportion of individuals capable of flight decreased with forest age.

subject

conservation

ecology

insect

invertebrate

plant

succession

contributor

Browne, Robert A (committee chair)

Silman, Miles R (committee member)

Conner, William E (committee member)

date

2011-02-16T21:42:13Z (accessioned)

2011-03-30T14:04:37Z (available)

2010 (issued)

degree

Biology (discipline)

embargo

2011-02-17 (terms)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/30394 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis