Diversity and habitat selection of aquatic beetles (Coleoptera). (original) (raw)
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Ecological factors affecting aquatic beetle species (Insecta: Coleoptera)
Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 2019
Aquatic Coleoptera plays a major role in freshwater ecosystems and is regarded as an effective bioindicator. While being widely distributed in Iran, there are few studies that use aquatic Coleoptera to determine environmental quality and conditions. With ample water resources, the province of Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Iran, offers an excellent opportunity to explore the effect of environmental characteristics on aquatic beetles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the structure of the community and to determine the dominant factors regulating aquatic beetles in Borujen and Lordegan (as two major provincial towns). Sampling was conducted seasonally for one year (between September 2017 and July 2018) at six stations using standard sampling tools (small net and soft paintbrush), ecological factors such as water temperature, water pH, water electrical conductivity and air temperature were also calculated at each station using appropriate tools. A total of 12 species have been described that belong to 11 genera and 4 families. The largest number of described species was contained in the Dytiscidae family and the smallest number in the Hydrophilidae family. Two species of Agabus were the most common insects, namely Agabus conspersus and Agabus bipustulatus. The study of linear regression found that water temperature with a correlation coefficient of 1,685 was the most powerful factor in the distribution of aquatic Coleoptera and the least important factor was the air temperature with a correlation coefficient of 0,39. Furthermore, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that water pH, water electrical conductivity (EC), water temperature (WT) and air temperature (AT) had an impact on aquatic beetle distribution. Our results suggest that water quality plays a key role in aquatic beetle species abundance and can, therefore, be viewed as a freshwater ecosystem health indicator organism.
Folia Biologica (Kraków), 2023
Szlauer-Łukaszewska A., Buczyński P., Pakulnicka J., Buczyńska E. 2023. In search of suitable habitats for water beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) within a heavily transformed river system. Folia Biologica (Kraków) 71: 69-87. The Odra is a large, regulated river, along which many groynes have been built. There are few publications examining how groynes affect the functioning of a river. We investigated the effect of these hydro-engineering structures on the water beetle fauna of a river subject to strong human pressure. The species composition, assemblages, functional and ecological groups of these beetles in groyne fields were compared with those of oxbows in the Odra valley. We demonstrated that the groyne fields were highly beneficial for water beetle development, offering highly suitable alternative habitats to oxbows which, though natural, are sensitive and endangered habitats in river valleys. The numerically dominant species in the groyne fields were rheophiles, which are typical of weakly eutrophic, well-oxygenated oxbows. Species-wise, eurytopes were the most important beetle assemblage. Macrophytes and organic matter were the factors governing the occurrence of saprophages and polyphages, which provide plentiful food resources for the predominating predators in these habitats. Either the pH, visibility, temperature, hardness and O2 both the vegetation, water depth, breadth of the littoral of the two habitat types were key to the beetles' distribution. The presence of groyne fields has rendered the species richness of the Odra's water beetles comparable with that of large, natural rivers, which amply demonstrates that not all anthropogenic transformations of habitats are inherently negative.
Effect of environment on functional traits of co-occurring water beetles
Annales De Limnologie-international Journal of Limnology, 2021
We investigated trait-environment relationships of co-occurring aquatic Coleoptera specifically true water beetles in anthropogenic ponds from the Western Ghats, India for the first time. Our objectives were to: (1) identify species assemblages; (2) study species traits; (3) study trait-environment relationships of co-occurring species. We analysed 132 samples collected using standardised quantitative method during the years 2016 and 2017. We found 16 significant assemblages using Fager's index, where most of the pairs have body size ratio of 1.3 or more. For example, Laccophilus parvulus and Hydaticus satoi pair has body size ratio of 3.98, and both are predators, indicating that body size is a function of food size. Moreover, factor analysis revealed three major swimming categories of studied beetles, namely fast swimmers, maneuverers and poor swimmers. Further, the RLQ analysis, and combined approach of RLQ and fourth-corner analysis showed that environmental variables affected species traits. For instance, odonate nymphs and submerged vegetation were positively associated with fast swimmers like Laccophilus inefficiens and Hydaticus satoi. The assemblage of congeners Hydroglyphus inconstans and H. flammulatus can be predator-mediated as these beetles showed negative association with odonate nymphs as well as competitive to obtain resource by showing positive association with chironomid larvae. Therefore, the traits studied were important for ecological performances of species in ponds. This study has also highlighted the importance of anthropogenic ponds in the Western Ghats as biodiversity refuges of ecologically unique and evolutionary old major extant lineages of water beetles.
Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 2016
The goal of the study was to identify the beetle fauna of a small lowland river valley against its spatial arrangement and the directions of beetle migrations between habitats, as well as to determine which environmental factors affect the characteristics of water beetle populations in a river valley's lentic water bodies. The field studies were carried out in various types of water bodies. 112 species of beetles with various ecological characteristics were identified. It was demonstrated that the diversity of water bodies in the valley is conducive to high local species richness. At the same time, the observed high degree of faunistic individualism may be regarded as a sign of poor symmetry in the directions of fauna propagation, particularly that of stagnobionts. The authors argue that high individualism is the consequence of poor hydrological contact between the water bodies due to topography and rare instances of high tide in the river, which, in turn, is the reason for active overflights remaining the main mean of migration between those water bodies. The factors restricting migration of fauna between the water bodies include certain landscape characteristics of the catchment which form topographical obstacles, mainly numerous and dense forest areas. The character of fauna in the respective types of water bodies is affected also by internal environmental factors, particularly the degree to which they are overgrown with macrophytes, type of bottom, type of mineral and organic matter as well as physical parameters of water, such as saturation, pH, temperature and biological oxygen demand.
Freshwater Biology, 2012
1. Coleoptera species show considerable diversity in life histories and ecological strategies, which makes possible their wide distribution in freshwater habitats, including highly stressed ones such as saline or temporary waterbodies. Explaining how particular combinations of traits allow species to occupy distinctive habitats is a central question in ecology. 2. A total of 212 sites, sampled over a wide range of inland aquatic habitats in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, yielded 272 species belonging to 68 genera and 11 families. The affinities of genera for 11 biological and 11 ecological traits, gathered from literature and the authors' own expertise, were used to assess the degree of congruence between taxonomic, biological and ecological traits. 3. Taxonomic richness was significantly related to the number of both biological and ecological trait categories, with the richest families also showing the highest functional and ecological diversity. A fuzzy correspondence analysis performed on the abundance-weighed array of biological traits separated genera according to categories of diet, feeding habits, respiration, reproduction and locomotion. A similar analysis of ecological traits revealed that preferences related to longitudinal distribution (headwater to mouth), local habitat and current velocity best discriminated genera. At the family level, there was a distinctive functional grouping of genera based on biological traits. Only Elmidae showed noticeable homogeneity across genera for both biological and ecological traits. 4. Co-inertia analysis demonstrated a significant match between biological and ecological traits (Rv-correlation = 0.35, P < 0.001). Elmidae genera displayed the highest concordance, whereas Hydraenidae demonstrated the lowest. 5. These results indicate that the predominance of habitat filtering processes in headwater streams yields biological trait conservatism (as shown by Elmidae genera), as well as trait convergence for some specific traits (for instance, respiration) among certain Dytiscidae genera and other typical rheophilic taxa, whereas other biotic factors, such as competition among species, appear more prominent in less stressed habitats. Further knowledge of traits, especially regarding physiological capabilities, is needed to better understand water beetle life history strategies.
Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 2016
We identified the beetle fauna of springs of a small lowland river and attempted to determine the direction and magnitude of beetle migration between the springs and neighboring water bodies in the river valley, as well as the local environmental factors and landscape parameters that most influence the character of aquatic beetle assemblages in the springs. We studied springs of three limnological types, along the entire length of the river valley, and identified 42 beetle species. All types of springs were dominated by stagnobiontic species, which enter springs from other aquatic environments, mainly via dispersion by air. We also found a small proportion of crenophiles and a substantial proportion of rheophiles and tyrphophiles, which was linked to the close proximity of the river and dystrophic water bodies. The fauna of the springs was affected to a similar degree by local environmental factors and by landscape factors acting on a broader scale. This indicates the need for broader consideration of landscape factors, which are often neglected in ecological studies.
Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 2016
We identified the beetle fauna of springs of a small lowland river and attempted to determine the direction and magnitude of beetle migration between the springs and neighboring water bodies in the river valley, as well as the local environmental factors and landscape parameters that most influence the character of aquatic beetle assemblages in the springs. We studied springs of three limnological types, along the entire length of the river valley, and identified 42 beetle species. All types of springs were dominated by stagnobiontic species, which enter springs from other aquatic environments, mainly via dispersion by air. We also found a small proportion of crenophiles and a substantial proportion of rheophiles and tyrphophiles, which was linked to the close proximity of the river and dystrophic water bodies. The fauna of the springs was affected to a similar degree by local environmental factors and by landscape factors acting on a broader scale. This indicates the need for broader consideration of landscape factors, which are often neglected in ecological studies.
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology
This study presents the first comprehensive investigation of population aspects and ecological traits of water beetles in oligotrophic hydrosystems with tufa formation in southeastern Europe. Diverse lotic habitats (springs, rivers and tufa barriers) were investigated monthly for one year in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Elmidae were the most diverse and abundant family, followed by Scirtidae and Hydraenidae. The ecological traits of water beetles were primarily defined by nutrients and water depth. Elmis bosnica Zaitzev, 1908, about which little has been published, was found to be bryophilous and to prefer low water temperatures. Biogeographical analysis revealed the dominance of typical southeastern and Mediterranean species. Species population dynamics could be attributed to differences in flow permanence, current velocity and canopy coverage. Both current velocity and water depth significantly influenced the occurrence of larval stages, while abundance of adults corre...
Aquatic …, 2012
The abundance and taxonomic composition of the aquatic insect fauna were investigated, with focus on adult water bugs, water beetles and water scavenger beetles (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha, and Coleoptera: Hydradephaga and Hydrophilidae) in two different freshwater habitats: (1) a periodically flooded area of the Special Zoological Reserve in Kopački rit Nature Park, Croatia; and (2) melioration canals in the wider area of the Nature Park during 2005. Aquatic insects are generally abundant in various water systems, including floodplains that are exposed to water level fluctuations. Our aims were (1) to determine abundance and species richness in relation to habitat type; (2) to determine the influence of high flood peaks and oscillations during high water levels on the diversity of aquatic Coleoptera and Heteroptera in the flooded area; and (3) to identify characteristic species associated with each habitat type. We collected 71 species; 41 were captured at canals and 64 at the flooded area. Diversity of the two habitat types varied depending on the months but there were remarkable differences in species pool and their abundance. Both high and low water levels as well as oscillations during high water levels had major influence on species assemblages at the flooded area. Diversity of aquatic Coleoptera and Heteroptera was higher when the water level decreased after high water level peaks. A total of 11 species fulfilled the criteria for specificity and were sufficiently abundant to be suitable species characteristic for these two habitats. A higher proportion of significant characteristic species was present in the flooded area than in the canals. The presence of two Red List species of water beetles (Graphoderus bilineatus De Geer, 1774 and Berosus geminus Reiche et Saulcy, 1856) and nine significant characteristic species at the flooded area clearly indicates that the contribution of floodplains in maintaining freshwater biodiversity is not only important regionally but also at the international level. Also, our results suggest that the power of high water levels is an important factor that can be used in analyses on aquatic Coleoptera and Heteroptera assemblages, showing the uniqueness of large floodplain areas.