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Title: Ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in the Conservation Reserve Program crop rotation systems in Interior Alaska

Author
item PANTOJA, ALBERTO
item SIKES, DEREK - UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA
item HAGERTY, AARON
item EMMERT, SUSAN
item RONDON, SILVIA - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/29/2012
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Little is known about the beneficial insect fauna associated with Alaska’s agricultural or natural systems. Given anticipated expansion of agriculture in Alaska and current trends in climate change which is most pronounced in northern latitudes, it is important to establish a baseline knowledge of the state’s insect fauna from which subsequent comparisons can be made. Ground beetles have a long history of use as ecological indicators and are also known to consume agricultural pests and seeds of weed plants. This research was initiated to study the species composition, seasonal activity, and affects of plot characteristics on dominant carabid species in CRP lands in Delta Junction, Alaska, and to aid state-wide efforts to document Alaska's entomofauna. Twenty species were documented based on a total sample of 6,116 specimens collected during 2006 and 2007. Two species, Cymindis cribricollis Dejean and Amara obesa Say, are reported for the first time for Alaska. Ninety-four percent of the specimens belong to five species, Agonum cupreum Dejean (17.9%), A. obesa (11.1%), Calathus ingratus Dejean (15%), Dicheirotrichus cognatus (Gyllenhal) (7.1%), and Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz (42.9%). The majority of carabid activity occurred late in the season from mid-September to early October.

Technical Abstract: Adult ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) abundance and diversity were documented on Conservation Research Program (CRP) agricultural lands in Delta Junction, Alaska (64ºN, 145º W). Twenty species were documented based on a total sample of 6,116 specimens collected during 2006 and 2007. Two species, Cymindis cribricollis Dejean and Amara obesa Say, are reported for the first time for Alaska. Species richness of carabids for these sites was estimated using the Chao 1 and Chao 2 estimators to be 22 and 28 species, respectively. Ninety-four percent of the specimens belong to five species, Agonum cupreum Dejean (17.9%), A. obesa (11.1%), Calathus ingratus Dejean (15%), Dicheirotrichus cognatus (Gyllenhal) (7.1%), and Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz (42.9%). Only the first three of these species showed significant effects based on plot age. The majority of carabid activity occurred late in the season, from mid-September to early October. Forty-two carabid species within the historic collection of the Matanuska Experiment Station, collected between 1943 and 1956 are also presented.