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Ground beetle assemblages in Beijing's new mountain forests

Warren-Thomas, E; Zou, Y; Dong, L; Yao, X; Yang, M; Zhang, X; Qin, Y; ... Axmacher, JC; + view all (2014) Ground beetle assemblages in Beijing's new mountain forests. Forest Ecology and Management 369- 376. 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.09.022. Green open access

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Abstract

Mature forests have been almost completely destroyed in China’s northern regions, but this has been followed by large-scale reforestation in the wake of environmental degradation. Although future forest plantations are expected to expand over millions of hectares, knowledge about the ecology and biodiversity of China’s replanted forests remains very limited. Addressing these knowledge gaps, we recorded ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in five secondary forest types: plantations of Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) and Prince Rupprecht’s Larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii), Oak (Quercus wutaishanica) and Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla) woodlands, and naturally regenerated mixed forest. Species richness peaked in mixed forests, while pine and oak woodlands harboured discrete communities of intermediate species richness. Oak, pine and mixed forest habitats also showed high levels of species turnover between plots. Canopy closure was an important factor influencing ground beetle assemblages and diversity, and a number of forest specialist species only occurred in pine or oak forests. We believe that some forest specialists have survived earlier deforestation and appear to be supported by new plantation forests, but maintenance of secondary native oak and mixed forests is crucial to safeguard the overall species pool.

Type: Article
Title: Ground beetle assemblages in Beijing's new mountain forests
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.09.022
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.09.022
Language: English
Additional information: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Carabidae, China, Plantation, Regeneration, Temperate forest
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1449676
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