Trait-specific response of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to forest fragmentation in the temperate region in Korea

The objective of this study was to examine the trait-specific response of ground beetles in terms of abundance, species richness, and composition for habitat fragmentation in temperate forests. In addition, we examined how different ecological groups and species of ground beetles responded to environmental variables. During middle May to early November in 2013, ground beetles were sampled using pitfall traps in 27 sites (18 patches and 9 continuous forests) in central Korea. A total of 51 species were identified from 17,845 ground beetles in the 27 study sites. Continuous forests had generally higher abundance and species richness of ground beetles than forest patches. Canonical correspondence analysis for ground beetles was significant, and the proportion of variance explained by environmental variables, such as patch size, elevation, organic matter (C), and soil moisture and pH, was 43.61%. In addition, species composition of ground beetles in continuous forests was grouped distinctively away from those in medium and small-sized patches. In conclusion, both small (1.1–9.6 ha) and medium patches (12.8–51.2 ha) were failed to preserve similar ground beetle biodiversity compared to continuous forests. However, our study revealed that medium-sized forest patches clearly had higher conservation value for forest specialist ground beetles than small-sized forest patches irrespective of forest type.