engleski

Abundance and seasonal dynamics of arthropod in the meadow community Arrenatheretum elatioris near Varaždin, Croatia

Background and Purpose: The knowledge of the relation between the fauna of Arthropods and the plant communities allows for a better evaluation of the total biodiversity. The subject of this paper is the research into the fauna of arthropods, particulary ground beetle occurences in the meadow community Arrhenatheretum elatioris, placed beetwen two corn fields in Zbelava near Varaždin. Material and Methods: Through continuous sampling, using the pitfall traps method, 27037 grown specimens of arthropods have been collected in the course of one year. Ten pitfall traps were filled with the 96 % solution of ethanol, vinegar and water in 1:1:1 proportion, whereas the other ten traps were filled with a saturated NaCl solution. The sampled fauna of arthropods has been analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, followed by the presentation of its seasonal dynamics. Results and Conclusions: The fauna has been determined with 14 orders and 2 suborders. The largest abundance of the fauna of arthropods in the researched meadow community has been recorded in the summer period, when it was represented with over 80 % of the specimens belonging to the orders Collembola and Acarina. For other groups, the largest abundance has been recorded in the spring, with a decline in their number in the summer period. The differences in the number of collected specimens, using the pitfall traps filled with two different solutions, are statistically significant for the orders Isopoda, Coleoptera and Diptera. A total of 41 species of carabids have been sampled, allowing the determination of species specific for the researched meadow community. The largest diversity of carabids (14) has been recorded in May and in late August, and their largest abundance has been recorded throughout July and in early August, with the Harpalus rufipes Mots (47, 27 %) and Poecilus cursorius Dej (20, 77 % ) as the most numerous species in the collected sample of carabids.

carabidae; pitfall traps; epigeal fauna; agriculture; landscape ecology; biodiversity

nije evidentirano