Decrease in Carabid Beetles in Grasslands of Northwestern China: Further Evidence of Insect Biodiversity Loss

Abstract

Ground-dwelling beetles are important functional components in nutrient-poor grasslands of middle temperate steppe ecosystems in China. Here, we assessed the changes in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in the grasslands of northwestern China over 12 years to improve the management and conservation of beetles all over the world. The Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied to estimate the changes in carabid beetle communities in two regions: a desert steppe (Yanchi region), and a typical steppe and meadow steppe (Guyuan region). During the 12-year investigation, a total of 34 species were captured. We found that species abundance and richness per survey declined by 0.2 and 11.2%, respectively. Precipitation was the main factor affecting the distribution of carabid beetles. A distinct decline in carabid beetle species in the Yanchi region indicated that they may be threatened by less precipitation and loss of habitat, which could be due to climate change. Overall, species richness was stable in the Guyuan region. It is necessary to estimate and monitor the changes in carabid beetle communities in a temperate steppe of northern China and to protect them. Extensive desertification seriously threatens the distribution of carabid beetles. Future research should develop methods to protect carabid beetle communities in temperate steppes in China.

Dataset: Biodiversity of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of the Republic of Mordovia (Russia)

“…Changes in climatic conditions, including aridization, and related secondary causes, such as fires, droughts, and floods, influence the loss of diversity [11][12][13]. Toxic chemical pollution, urbanization, deforestation, and the introduction of invasive species have recently significantly impacted regional biodiversity [14][15][16][17][18]. Although Coleoptera have been studied better than many other invertebrate groups, their regional fauna in central European Russia has not yet been fully identified.…”

Dataset: Fauna of Adult Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of the National Park “Smolny” (Russia)

“…There are many reasons leading to recent changes in ecosystems. Urbanization, pollution with various toxic chemicals, regular fires, deforestation, climate changes, and biological invasions have recently had a considerable impact on biodiversity [11,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33].…”

Influence of constructed rapid infiltration system on groundwater recharge and quality

“…The response of groundwater table to rainfall runoff recharge has a hysteresis due to the impact of the groundwater flow field (Hocking and Kelly 2016), and the lag time is about 3-4 months. Liu (2021) showed that with the increase in the groundwater depth, the lag duration time of infiltration recharge is more obvious. When the groundwater depth reaches 8 m, the lag time of the peak value of irrigation infiltration recharge may reach more than 2-3 months.…”