Abstract:

To study the species diversity pattern of carabids and its relation with environment factors in different ways of land use, systematic investigation of carabid beetles were conducted from May to October in 2009 by pitfall traps in Saibei Administrative Region, Hebei Province, Northern China. Carabid beetles caught from six habitats of different land uses, i.e., shrubmeadow, potato land, clover field, enclosed meadow, moderately grazed meadow and heavily grazed meadow, were identified and analyzed. The results showed that a total of 10 804 carabid beetles were collected, belonging to 10 genera and 18 species. Among all collected specimens, Pterostichus fortipes, Cymindis binotata and Carabus latreillei accounted for 67.5%, 7.53% and 7.06% of total specimens, respectively. The highest density of carabids was found in clover field, followed by potato field, and the lowest density in heavily grazed meadow. As to clover field, there was almost no disturbance, and the species richness, Margalef richness index, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and the evenness index of carabids were higher in clover field than other ones. The result of clustering analysis showed that the similarity of beetle community in different habitats accords with interference strength and land use patterns. Beetles seasonal activities were mainly from June to September, and peaked in July and August. Various species in different land use patterns have different seasonal trends. The number of carabid individuals increased with the plant biomass. Pterostichus fortipes mostly reached a peak in July when plants grow in luxuriance, except that the peak within the enclosed meadow appeared in August; Cymindis binotata peaked in 8-9 months. Canonical corresponding analysis indicated that the soil moisture, soil temperature, plant cover, plant biomass and plant height were important environmental factors in carabid community composed. The results suggest that the disturbance of different land uses influenced the environments where carabid beetles survived, and then influenced the species composition and quantity distribution pattern.

Key words: Carabid beetles, species diversity, community, habitat, land use