Habitat Distribution and Diversity of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on Geumo Mountain

Abstract

We investigated the habitat distribution and diversity of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), a bioindicator for assessing environmental changes on Geumo Mountain, in survey plots at different altitudes on the southern and northern slopes of Geumo Mountain in South Korea. From April to September 2021, we collected 1,384 individuals, 41 species, and 15 families of Carabidae from the survey sites. The dominant species collected was Synuchus cycloderus (347 individuals), followed by Carabus jankowskii (193 individuals). The monthly distributions of species richness and abundance were as follows: 24 beetles of 9 species in April, 115 beetles of 28 species in May, 288 beetles of 32 species in June, peaking at 379 beetles of 32 species in July, 354 beetles of 23 species in August, and 224 beetles of 14 species in September. Additionally, we collected 305 beetles of 32 species at 400 m, 326 beetles of 31 species at 500 m, 359 beetles of 27 species at 600 m, 582 beetles of 16 species at 700 m, and 112 beetles of 7 species at 800 m near the summit. The habitat distribution by slope was 307 beetles (20 species of 8 families) on the southern slope and 1,077 beetles (34 species of 15 families) on the northern slope. For the 307 beetles of 20 species collected from the southern slope, the diversity, evenness, and dominance indices were 0.981, 0.754, and 0.156, respectively. For the 1,077 beetles of 34 species collected from the northern slope, the diversity evenness, and dominance indices were 1.187, 0.775, and 0.101, respectively.