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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (2): 153-160.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2016114

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Diversity and diffusion dynamics of the ground-dwelling carabid beetle community in alfalfa fields and boundary edges of their adjacent crops

ZHANG Yan-Rong1, HU Wen-Chao1, LV Miao-Miao1, HONG Bo1, GUAN Xiao-Qing1, HE Da-Han1, 2, *   

  1. 1.Agriculturial School, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China;
    2.Key Lab for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in North-western China of Ministry of Education, Yinchuan 750021, China
  • Received:2016-03-14 Online:2017-02-20 Published:2017-02-20

Abstract: We conducted a pitfall trap survey in alfalfa fields and the boundary edges of their adjacent crops in Northwest China from May to July 2014-2015, to investigate the species and individuals in the ground-dwelling carabid beetle community. We selected four different habitat interfaces: alfalfa-wheat, alfalfa-corn, alfalfa-tree land, and alfalfa-fallow grassland. The component species, community diversity, and diffusion dynamics of carabid beetles in these habitats were analyzed. During the field research, we collected a total of 9239 carabid beetles belonging to 21 species. Chlaenius pallipes, Harpaluscal ceatus, and Chlaenius touzalini were the dominant species, accounting for 41.17%, 18.77%, and 17.07% of the total number of individuals, respectively. The four habitat interfaces were ranked based on carabid abundance index as follows: alfalfa-tree interface>alfalfa-wheat interface=alfalfa-corn interface>alfalfa-fallow interface. Similarly, the four types of alfalfa fields were ranked based on their Shannon-Wiener diversity index as follows: alfalfa field adjacent to wheat>alfalfa field adjacent to tree land>alfalfa field adjacent to corn>alfalfa field adjacent to fallow land. The alfalfa field adjacent to wheat also showed the highest evenness and dominance indices. The Shannon-Wiener index was higher at the edge of alfalfa fields than in their adjacent crop fields, indicating that the ground-dwelling carabid beetle community showed significant seasonal migration dynamics between the edge of alfalfa fields and their adjacent crop fields. The results indicated that different habitat interfaces, alfalfa mowing, irrigation, and other agricultural operations significantly affect the migration dynamics of ground-dwelling predators.