›› 2009, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (5): 551-560.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Differences of flower-visiting hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) communities in habitats with various degrees of disturbance and altitude in Changbai Mountain, N. E. China

  

  • Online:2009-05-20 Published:2009-05-20

Abstract: In this paper, the species composition, richness, abundance and diversity of flower-visiting hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) communities in habitats with various degrees of disturbance and altitudes in Changbai Mountain, N. E. China, were investigated using transect sampling method in two sample sites. One site located at a low elevation of 800-1 100 m, and the other located at a high elevation of 1 750-2 150 m. In each sample site, three types of habitats were selected, with an area of 20 m×20 m for each transect (habitat). A total of 2 540 individuals of 42 Syrphidae species in 252 sets of data were collected. The differences in flower-visiting hoverfly composition, species richness, abundance and diversity in different habitat types and altitudes were analyzed. The results showed that the similarities among different habitats at the low site are higher than those of the high site. The flower-visiting hoverfly abundance at the low site is higher than that of the high site, while the species richness is lower than that at the high site. The diversity indexes of flower-visiting hoverfly are significantly different among different habitats, but diversity shows no significant differences between the low and high altitude sites. In different habitats, the highest diversity of flower-visiting hoverfly occurred in the transition forest habitat (Betula ermanii forest belt), as well as in the secondary forest habitats with slight disturbance (coniferous-deciduous mixed forest beltⅡ). The diversity flower-visiting hoverfly in Botanical Garden for valuable plant species conservation is second only to that in the above two habitats, which indicates its remarkable effect on conservation.

Key words: Diptera, Syrphidae, flower-visiting hoverfly, habitats, species composition, species diversity, transects, Changbai Mountain