Assemblage Characteristics of Butterflies and Carabid Beetles as a Function of Soil Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Differently Managed Fields, Forests and Ecotones: A Case Study in Tuczno Forest District, Poland

Katarzyna Szyszko-Podgórska, Izabela Dymitryszyn, Urszula Jankiewicz, Marek Kondras, Ewa Żyfka-Zagrodzińska and Axel Schwerk
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Katarzyna Szyszko-Podgórska: Institute of Environmental Protection-National Research Institute, 00-548 Warsaw, Poland
Izabela Dymitryszyn: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Landscape Art, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Urszula Jankiewicz: Institute of Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Marek Kondras: Institute of Agriculture, Department of Soil Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Ewa Żyfka-Zagrodzińska: Institute of Environmental Protection-National Research Institute, 00-548 Warsaw, Poland
Axel Schwerk: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Landscape Art, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Land, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: A drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale has been reported. We assume that this is a multifactorial problem involving biotope types and plant diversity, soil characteristics and human activity (management of areas). The aim of our study was to analyze diversity patterns of carabid beetles and butterflies as predatory and phytophagous arthropod groups in response to soil characteristics and plant diversity in different types of ecosystems and ecotones with diverse management situated in a heterogeneous landscape composed of different forests, agricultural and post-agricultural areas of different stages of succession and watercourses and mires in north-western Poland. Three different forests, three fallows, two meadows and two ecotones, differing with respect to the involved ecosystems, were included in the study. Our results showed that the study site types differed with respect to soil characteristics and plant diversity, but ecotones were not characterized by explicitly higher diversity in these parameters. For both carabid beetles and butterflies, characteristic assemblages for individual study sites could be demonstrated. We could also show differences in the most important factors between these two taxonomic groups. We assume that management type is important regarding ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity. Large-scale management strategies are necessary in order to maintain or create landscapes with high natural qualities.

Keywords: Carabidae; Lepidoptera; landscape; biological diversity; management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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