A preliminary investigation of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages and vegetation community structure in <i>Calluna vulgaris</i> heathlands in NW Spain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33338/ef.84339Abstract
We present results of a primary survey of carabid beetles in Calluna vulgaris heathlands in the Cantabrian mountain range, NW Spain. We selected four heathland sites and captured carabids during July–August 2004 by randomly placing 48 pitfall traps per site (192 traps in total). The mature heathland carabid assemblage was mostly characterised by generalist, open habitat species, brachypterous andmedium-sized species. Several endemic species were also found. Dominant species were the same in the four heathland sites, but differences in the total number of species were due to rarely collected ones. Differences in carabid assemblage composition between heathland sites indicate that care should be taken when selecting a priori heathland replicates for future research. Results from this study are mainly exploratory, showing that there is a characteristic carabid assemblage for these mature heathlands, different from other shrub communities of the same area. Preservation of heathlands in amature stage would require management practices to avoid its natural evolution to a degenerative phase and the possible disappearance of the adapted carabid species.
