Comparative analysis of structural characteristics of ground beetles community (Carabidae: Coleoptera) along an urban-rural gradient in Skopje city and its surrounding

Authors

  • Aleksandra Gjorgievska Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences 91000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Dana Prelik Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences 91000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Slavčo Hristovski Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences 91000 Skopje, Macedonia
  • Borislav Georgiev National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria, BiodiversityDepartment, Central Laboratory of General Ecology, 2 Yurii Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria

Keywords:

ground beetles, urban-rural gradient, structural indexes

Abstract

Comparative analyzes of structural characteristics of ground beetles in three different localities (urban - U, suburban - S and rural - R) along the urban-rural gradient in Skopje city and its surrounding was followed. The material was collected monthly, during one year period (07.2004 – 07.2005) by pitfall trapping along transect. In total, 61 species, and 28 genera were registered. In total 3.03 ind.·trap-1 were registered, in R - 3.42 ind.·trap-1, in S – 2.54 ind.·trap-1 and in U - 3.13 ind.·trap-1. Dominant species were Calathus melanocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), Calathus cinctus (Motschulsky, 1850), Harpalus serripes (Quensel, 1806) and Amara aenea (De Geer, 1774). Structural features of ground beetles (Carabidae: Coleoptera) has been done trough examination of structural characteristics such as Index of richness – d; Index of diversity – H’; Index of homogeneity – J(e); Index of dominance - DI and Index of similarity - s, comparatively in three different localities. There were similar oscillations of d and H’ which had highest values during early summer period and lowest during February. Values of H’ and J(e) were almost identical and positively correlated. DI was negatively correlated to the other indexes. Highest values were registered during February in R and May in S, while lowest during July in S. Index of similarity (s) was highest between urban and rural locality (66.67%) in winter period.

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Published

2009-12-31

How to Cite

Gjorgievska, A., Prelik, D., Hristovski, S. ., & Georgiev, B. (2009). Comparative analysis of structural characteristics of ground beetles community (Carabidae: Coleoptera) along an urban-rural gradient in Skopje city and its surrounding. Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment, 12(1-2), 31–44. Retrieved from http://mjee.org.mk/index.php/mjee/article/view/89