Effects of Different Insecticide Disturbance Levels and Weed Patterns on Carabid Beetle Assemblages

Markó, V. and Kádár, F. (2005) Effects of Different Insecticide Disturbance Levels and Weed Patterns on Carabid Beetle Assemblages. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica, 40 (1-2). pp. 111-143. ISSN 0238-1249

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Abstract

In our 3-year study ground beetle assemblages were investigated in habitats with different weed coverage and insecticide treatments in an apple orchard in Hungary. The aim of the study was to compare the effects on the activity density and composition of carabid assemblages of two insecticide disturbance levels; 1) applications of selective insecticides (integrated plant protection, IPM - representing lower degree of disturbance); 2) applications of broad-spectrum insecticides (conventional plant protection - representing a higher degree of disturbance). Particular attention was paid to the joint effects of weed patterns in the orchard and insecticide treatments as well as to the carabid assemblages in the two neighbouring semi-natural habitats. The less intense insecticide disturbance significantly increased the activity density and species richness of the apple orchard carabid assemblages.  The mosaic habitats of the orchard herb layer, where higher and lower herb coverage alternate, altogether maintained more abundant and diverse carabid assemblages, than the habitat of closed, dense vegetation. The intra-orchard habitats with higher weed coverage enhanced the post-disturbance re-colonisation from the hedges, and therefore resulted carabid assemblages more similar to those of the semi-natural hedge vegetation. However, this re-colonisation was not great enough to compensate for the high mortality of the orchard carabid assemblage, which mostly consisted of species rare in the hedges. The high insecticide disturbance, affected the diversity of carabid assemblages in the intra-orchard habitats of high and low weed coverage differently, probably because of induced inter-habitat movement. Habitat attachment and post-disturbance recovery of Amara aenea, A. bifrons, A. fulva, A. ingenua, Broscus cephalotes, Calathus ambiguus, C. erratus, C. fuscipes, Cicindela hybrida, Harpalus albanicus, H. distinguendus, H. flavescens, H. froelichi, H. hirtipes, H. picipennis, H. rufipes, H. serripes, H. servus and H. tardus are also discussed.

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