Effect of Pine Wilt Disease Control on the Distribution of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Abstract

We chose the Mt. Dalum area (located in Gijang-gun, Busan, Korea) for our survey, particularly The pine wilt disease zone and the non-permanent control area. This study investigates the effect of pine wilt disease on the distribution of beetle species in the process of ecosystem change due to insect control; pine forests treated for pine wilt disease were divided into insect control and non-control sites, respectively. The results of this study are as follows. Twen tyseven species belongs to 12 families were identified from 969 ground beetles collected from this sites. Species richness was the highest in Coleoptera (6 species, 469 individuals). In the control site, 21 species belongs to 10 families were identified from 228 individuals, while 24 species of 11 families from 533 individuals in the non-control area. The highest number of species were noted in June and July from the non- control and control sites, respectively. The highest number of insects in control and non-control sites was observed in July, while the lowest in September. Sipalinus gigas gigas, Spondylis buprestoides, Plesiophthalmus davidis, Calosoma maximowiczi, Damaster jankowskii jankowskii, and Damaster smaragdinus were captured in both study sites. Episomustur ntus and Glischrochilus ipsoides were only captured in the control site, while Macrodorcas rectus rectus and Pheropsophus javanus were only captured in the non-control site. Six beetles and five species (such as Calosoma maximowiczi) were found in the control site and six species (including Damaster smaragdinus) in the non-control site. The species distributions by altitude were 163, 518, and 258 individuals, at 100, 200 and 300 m sites, respectively. The diversity, evenness, and dominance indices in the control area were 0.764, 0.812, and 0.367, respectively. The diversity, evenness, and dominance indices in the non-control area were 0.927, 0.837, and 0.352, respectively. The similarity index between the control and non-control area was 80%.