Carabid Beetle Assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a Seminatural Grassland and the Adjacent Old Beech Forest in Northeast Japan

The decline and disappearance of seminatural grasslands in Japan have caused a reduction in plant and animal species inhabiting such grasslands. We aimed to understand the assemblage structure, species diversity, and distribution of carabid beetles in traditionally managed seminatural grasslands, by comparing with the adjacent old beech forest. We investigated the carabid beetle assemblages in a seminatural grassland maintained by prescribed burning and annual mowing, and the adjacent old beech forest in Yamagata Prefecture, northeast Japan. We recorded several forest species along with open habitat species and habitat generalists in the grassland, suggesting that forest species may utilize the adjacent grasslands as temporary habitats. Cluster analysis showed that the assemblage structure of carabid beetles in the grassland differed from that in the beech forest.There were no clear differences in the carabid assemblages between the burned grassland sites and the grassland sites mowed in July after burning. This suggests that the annual mowing had little influence on the response of grassland carabid species in parts of the grassland. We recorded Harpalus roninus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), a rare carabid species in Japan, indicating that this beetle can be a characteristic of the studied grassland. Redundancy analysis showed that the eight abundant grassland species were associated with canopy openness, grass height, and understory vegetation cover, whereas the five most common species recorded from the beech forest were associated with litter depth and soil moisture.

Automated summary

The study found that the assemblage structure of carabid beetles in traditionally managed seminatural grasslands differs from that in old beech forests, with several forest species present in the grasslands. The responses of carabid species to annual mowing and prescribed burning in the grasslands were minimal, and a rare species, Harpalus roninus, was identified as a characteristic species of the studied grassland. Redundancy analysis revealed different factors influencing the abundant grassland species and common forest species.