The thesis is devoted to a comprehensive study of saproxylic Coleoptera (Insecta: Coleoptera) in the coniferous forests of the Carpathian National Nature Park (hereinafter referred to as NNP), establishing their taxonomic diversity as well as the dominance, chorological, and trophic structures of populations and communities in forests that differ in age parameters and degree of anthropogenic impact.
The purpose of the thesis is to establish the taxonomic composition and structure of the population and groups of saproxylic Coleoptera in the coniferous forests of the Carpathian NNP.
The object of the research is saproxylic Coleoptera (Insecta, Coleoptera) of coniferous forests in the Carpathian NNP, and the subject is the structural organization of their communities in coniferous forests of the Carpathian NNP that vary in age and level of anthropogenic impact.
This work is the first comprehensive study of the taxonomic composition and structure of saproxylic Coleoptera communities in coniferous forests of different ages and levels of anthropogenic impact not only in the Carpathian NNP, but also in the Ukrainian Carpathians in general.
In the Carpathian NNP, 7 sampling areas were established. On each of the experimental plots, in accordance with the generally accepted and most effective methodology for the selected group of organisms, combined and transparent barrier traps – polytraps – were installed, which operated around the clock throughout the entire growing season.
As a result of the research conducted, 13,818 specimens of saproxylic Coleoptera belonging to 493 species, 50 families, 15 superfamilies, and 5 series of the suborder Polyphaga were collected and identified in the coniferous forests of the Carpathian NNP.
The Staphylinidae family proved to be the richest in species composition, accounting for more than a quarter of all identified beetle species – 129 (26.2%). Next in terms of species richness are the families Curculionidae – 41 species (8.3%), Nitidulidae – 29 species (5.9%), Cryptophagidae – 27 species (5.5%), and Cerambycidae – 26 species (5.3%). All other families account for less than 5% of the species composition.
During the research, 7 species new to the fauna of Ukraine were discovered, belonging to the Staphylinidae family: Aleochara peeziana, Plataraea nigrifrons, Placusa incompleta, Hydrosmecta longula, Liogluta alpestris, Dochmonota rudiventris, and Paraphloeostiba gayndahensis.
As a result of analyzing the dominance structure of the saproxylic Coleoptera population of the Carpathian NNP, no eudominant species were identified, and the only dominant species was Bibloporus minutus from the Staphylinidae family. There are 6 subdominant species: Salpingus ruficollis from the Salpingidae family, Trypodendron lineatum from the Curculionidae family, Pteryngium crenulatum and Atomaria turgida from the Cryptophagidae family, Melanotus castanipes from the Elateridae family, and Leptusa pulchella from the Staphylinidae family. There are 18 recedent species. However, the vast majority of species (468) belong to subrecedent species.
In chorological terms, saproxylic beetles of coniferous forests in the Carpathian NNP belong to 13 zoogeographical complexes. The dominant species are those with Trans-Eurasian (26.2%), European-Caucasian (15.7%), Holarctic (14.5%), and European (12.8%) types of ranges.
In terms of trophic specialization at both stages of ontogenesis capable of feeding – larvae and adults – mycetophages predominate among saproxylic Coleoptera of all types of coniferous forests in the Carpathian NNP. At the adult stage of development, the group of mycetophages, next most representative group is zoophages. Among larvae, after mycetophages, prevails saprophages.
Based on the results of a comparative analysis of the data from coniferous forests of the Carpathian NNP that vary in age and level of anthropogenic impact, it was established that primeval forest ecosystems prevail over others in terms of both species richness and the number of saproxylic Coleoptera. Thus, it can be stated that the coniferous primeval forests of the Carpathian NNP are an important center for the conservation of the biodiversity of saproxylic Coleoptera.
