How ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) respond to various silvicultural treatments in the northern hardwoods and pine plantations of the Great Lakes Region.

Abstract

Silvicultural practices in forestry include activities such as site preparation, tree planting, thinning, and tree harvesting. Sometimes single trees are removed while in other cases large tracts of forest are clearcut. Logging activities bring about many environmental changes in light, temperature, soil moisture and vegetation structure, and thus can influence local plant and animal communities. Ground beetles (Carabidae) are good bioindicators of environmental change because they are (1) highly sensitive to habitat alterations, (2) diverse, (3) abundant, and (4) well known taxonomically. There are about 2,500 described species of Carabidae in North America. Most carabids are carnivorous predators that mostly hunt at night. Many other carabids are herbivores feeding primarily on seeds. After trees within an area of forest have been harvested, grasses and sedges often quickly colonize the newly opened sites that now lack forest canopy trees. These newly cleared sites attract many carabids known as open-habitat specialists, which are also predominantly seed feeders.

Citation

​Haack, Robert A.; Petrice, Toby; Acciavatti, Robert E.; Davidson, Robert L. 2025. How ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) respond to various silvicultural treatments in the northern hardwoods and pine plantations of the Great Lakes Region. Newsletter of the Great Lakes Entomological Society. 69(3): 5-8.