Microhabitat Structure Affects Ground-Dwelling Beetle Communities More than Temperature along an Urbanization Gradient

Urbanization profoundly alters environmental conditions for organisms, particularly through the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which elevates temperatures in city centers. This study examines the influence of urban environmental variables on rove and ground beetle communities. We sampled 36 grassla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diversity (Basel) 2024-08, Vol.16 (8), p.504
Main Authors: Cabon, Valentin, Laurent, Yann, Georges, Romain, Quénol, Hervé, Dubreuil, Vincent, Bergerot, Benjamin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
activity density
Arthropods
Beetles
Biodiversity and Ecology
Carabidae
City centres
Environmental conditions
Environmental Sciences
functional diversity
Grasslands
Green infrastructure
Habitats
Microenvironments
Microhabitats
Mowing
Open spaces
Rural areas
Sensors
Species composition
Staphylinidae
taxonomic diversity
Taxonomy
Temperature
Thermal environments
Urban climatology
Urban ecology
Urban environments
urban heat island
Urban heat islands
Urban planning
Urbanization
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Summary:Urbanization profoundly alters environmental conditions for organisms, particularly through the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which elevates temperatures in city centers. This study examines the influence of urban environmental variables on rove and ground beetle communities. We sampled 36 grasslands in Rennes (northwestern France), yielding 3317 and 505 staphylinid and carabid adult individuals, respectively, belonging to 121 and 60 species, respectively. Staphylinid and carabid communities are not primarily affected by temperature-related variables. Staphylinids, often overlooked in urban ecology, showed species composition variation to be influenced by habitat and temperature, whereas their functional diversity was positively correlated with herbaceous vegetation height only. In contrast, carabid communities exhibited no significant relationship with the tested environmental variables. This study underscores the taxon-dependent nature of ectotherm’s responses to thermal environments. Although a further investigation into species-specific traits, and particularly dispersal capacities in staphylinids, is needed to advance our understanding of urbanization’s impact, our results indicate that functional diversity in staphylinid assemblages can be favored by locally reducing the mowing frequency or increasing the cutting height within urban green spaces.
ISSN:1424-2818
1424-2818
DOI:10.3390/d16080504