Temporal dynamic of a ground beetle community of Eastern Alps (Coleoptera Carabidae)

Ground-beetles are often used in biodiversity assessment and conservation plans as they are easily captured, are taxonomically well known, and respond to changes in habitat structure. An investigation of carabid beetle communities of a managed spruce forest in eastern Alps (Cadore, Veneto region, Italy) was carried out. Samples were collected by pitfall traps from May to September (2013). We positioned the pitfall traps across different sample units (i.e. forest stands), at an elevation between 800 and 1500 m a.s.l. We sampled 22 species of Carabidae and 7,420 individuals. We investigated the phenology appearance of adult Carabidae to understand the temporal variation in species richness, diversity, and community composition. The study of the variation of species composition along time and the ecological structure of carabids assemblages during sample sessions allow to understand temporal dynamics of each structural parameters of communities and to analyse in detail how the ground beetle communities arrange across time. We observed a great species replacement during the season, with different species showing different temporal patterns of activity. This temporal information could be useful for management plans and for further studies on ecological communities of beetles to plan sampling programme because allow understanding how local communities arrange along season.