Article

Alexander B. Ruchin, Dr. Sc., Associate Professor, Director of the Joint Directorate of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park «Smolny» (430011, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Dachnyi Lane, 4); e-mail: ruchin.alexander@gmail.com
Sergei K. Alekseev, Ecological club «Stenus» (Russia).
Anatoliy A. Khapugin, PhD, Senior Researcher of the Joint Directorate of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park “Smolny" (430011, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Dachnyi Lane, 4); Researcher of the Tyumen State University; e-mail: hapugin88@yandex.ru.

Ruchin A.B., Alekseev S.K., Khapugin A.A. 2019. Post-fire fauna of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in forests of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Russia). Nature Conservation Research 4(Suppl.1): 11–20. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2019.009

Wildfires are among the basic ecological factors that change habitats and initiate the succession of new forest communities. Burned areas are ephemeral habitats presenting a broad range of ecological niches that many insect species may exploit. In 2016, we studied the carabid fauna in burned pine forests of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (European Russia). Sixty carabid beetles in total were collected in an unburned (control) area and on sites damaged by crown fire and surface fire. Carabids were more numerous and diverse in the burned areas, compared to the unburned forest, while the catch index was significantly higher in unburned area. This was due to the extremely high dynamic density of Carabus arcensis on the control site, while it was ten times lower in the burned area. The number of carabid species tended to increase in the sequence unburned forest – forest impacted by surface fire – forest impacted by crown fire. Expectedly, species compositions were more similar between fire-damaged areas, while there was a higher difference between the unburned site and area damaged by crown fire. Concerning trophic group classification, all carabid beetles were distinguished in two groups, zoophagous species and myxophytophagous species. In both groups, the species number increases in the sequence from unburned areas to the forest impacted by crown fire. Finally, the dynamic density of some carabids (e.g. Poecilus lepidus, P. versicolor, Harpalus tardus, H. rufipes, H. rubripes, Cicindela sylvatica) largely increased after fire impact, while it decreased for the most other species. Our results suggest that burning of the forest stand may support some carabid species, i.e. larger forest fire increases species richness of beetle fauna. The highest dynamic density of the carabids is maintained by a few beetle species (Carabus arcensis, C. hortensis, Pterostichus oblongopunctatus).

dynamic density, insects, species composition, trophic group, wildfire, wildfire severity

Received: 18.11.2018. Revised: 23.01.2019. Accepted: 27.01.2019

Aakala T., Pasanen L., Helama S., Vakkari V., Drobyshev I., Seppa H., Kuuluvainen T., Stivrins N., Wallenius T., Vasander H., Holmstrom L. 2018. Multiscale variation in drought controlled historical forest fire activity in the boreal forests of eastern Fennoscandia. Ecological Monographs 88(1): 74–91. DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1276
Arnold K.T., Murphy N.P., Gibb H. 2017. Post-fire recovery of litter detritivores is limited by distance from burn edge. Austral Ecology 42(1): 94–102. DOI: 10.1111/aec.12404
Bayanov N.G. 2015. Climate changes of the northwest of Mordovia during the period of existence of the Mordovia Reserve according to the meteorological observations in Temnikov. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 14: 212–219. [In Russian]
BC Wildfire Service. 2018. Fire Rank. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/about-bcws/wildfire-response/fire-characteristics/rank
Bezkorovainaya I.N., Krasnoshchekova E.N., Ivanova G.A. 2007. Transformation of soil invertebrate complex after surface fires of different intensity. Biology Bulletin 34(5): 517–522. DOI: 10.1134/S1062359007050159
Bondarenko A.S., Zamotajlov A.S., Shchurov V.I. 2017. Contribution to biology and distribution studies on some ground beetles species (Coleoptera, Carabidae) registered in the Red Data Book of Krasnodarsky Krai. Nature Conservation Research 2(Suppl. 1): 70–80. DOI: 10.24189/ncr.2017.005
Brown P.M. 2006. Climate effects on fire regimes and tree recruitment in Black Hills ponderosa pine forests. Ecology 87(10): 2500–2510. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[2500:CEOFRA]2.0.CO;2
Buddlea C.M., Langorb D.W., Pohlb G.R., Spencec J.R. 2006. Arthropod responses to harvesting and wildfire: Implications for emulation of natural disturbance in forest management. Biological Conservation 128(3): 346–357. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2005.10.002
Burakowski B. 1989. Agonum (Sericoda) quadripunctatum (De Geer) – a pyrophilous beetle and its immature stages Coleoptera, Carabidae. Annales Zoologici 42(6): 181–194.
Butenko K.O., Gongalsky K.B., Korobushkin D.I., Ekschmitt K., Zaitsev A.S. 2017. Forest fires alter the trophic structure of soil nematode communities. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 109: 107–117. DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.02.006
Carcaillet C., Bergman I., Delorme S., Hornberg G., Zackrisson O. 2007. Long-term fire frequency not linked to prehistoric occupations in northern Swedish boreal forest. Ecology 88(2): 465–477. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2007)88[465:LFFNLT]2.0.CO;2
Certini G. 2005. Effects of fire on properties of forest soils: a review. Oecologia 143(1): 1–10. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-004-1788-8
Coleman T.W., Rieske L.K. 2006. Arthropod response to prescription burning at the soil-litter interface in oak-pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management 233(1): 52-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.06.001
Divoky V. 1989. Miscodera arctica (Paykull, 1798) – new species for Czechoslovakia (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca 86(4): 306–307.
Erikstad K.E., Byrkjedal I., Kalas J.A. 1989. Resource partitioning among seven carabid species on Hardangervidda, southern Norway. Annales Zoologici Fennici 26(2): 113–120.
Erni S., Arseneault D., Parisien M.A., Begin Y. 2017. Spatial and temporal dimensions of fire activity in the fire-prone eastern Canadian taiga. Global Change Biology 23(3): 1152–1166. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13461
Feoktistov V.F. 1978. Composition and ecological structure of carabid fauna in phytocoenotic series of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. In: Fauna and ecology of invertebrate animals. Moscow. P. 53–67. [In Russian]
Garcia-Orenes F., Arcenegui V., Chrenkova K., Mataix-Solera J., Molto J., Jara-Navarro A.B., Torres M.P. 2017. Effects of salvage logging on soil properties and vegetation recovery in a fire-affected Mediterranean forest: a two year monitoring research. Science of the Total Environment 586: 1057–1065. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.090
Gongalsky K.B. 2011. The spatial distribution of large soil invertebrates on burned areas in xerophilous ecosystems of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Arid Ecosystems 17(4): 260–266. DOI: 10.1134/S2079096111040068
Gongalsky K.B. 2014. Forest fires and soil fauna. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. 169 p. [In Russian]
Gongalsky K.B. 2017. Perfugia as a mechanism for the recovery of soil fauna after ecosystem disturbances. Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology 2(4). DOI: 10.21685/2500-0578-2017-4-3
Gongalsky K.B., Persson T. 2013. Recovery of soil macrofauna after wildfires in boreal forests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 57: 182–191. DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.07.005
Gongalsky K.B., Wikars L.-O., Persson T. 2008. Ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) responses to a forest wildfire in northern Europe. Russian Entomological Journal 17(3): 273–282.
Gongalsky K.B., Midtgaard F., Overgaard H.J. 2006. Effects of prescribed forest burning on carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae): a case study in south-eastern Norway. Entomologica Fennica 17(3): 325–333.
Grishutkin O.G. 2012. Influence of 2010 wildfire in the mire ecosystems of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 10: 261–266. [In Russian]
Hengeveld R. 1980. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of the food of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) – a Review. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 30(4): 555–563. DOI: 10.1163/002829679X00188
Holliday N.J. 1991. Species responses of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) during post-fire regeneration of boreal forest. Canadian Entomologist 123(6): 1369–1389. DOI: 10.4039/Ent1231369-6
Holliday N.J. 1992. The carabid fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) during postfire regeneration of boreal forest: properties and dynamics of species assemblages. Canadian Journal Zoology 70(3): 440–452. DOI: 10.1139/z92-067
Hornberg G., Josefsson T., DeLuca T.H., Higuera P.E., Liedgren L., Ostlund L., Bergman I. 2018. Anthropogenic use of fire led to degraded scots pine-lichen forest in northern Sweden. Anthropocene 24: 14–29. DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2018.10.002
Jaccard P. 1901. Étude comparative de la distribution florale dans une portion des Alpes et du Jura. Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 37: 547–549.
Khapugin A.A., Vargot E.V., Chugunov G.G. 2016. Vegetation recovery in fire-damaged forests: a case study at the southern boundary of the taiga zone. Forestry Studies 64: 39–50. DOI: 10.1515/fsmu-2016-0003
Koivula M.J. 2011. Useful model organisms, indicators, or both? Ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) reflecting environmental conditions. ZooKeys 100: 287–317. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.100.1533
Koivula M., Spence J.R. 2006. Effects of post-fire salvage logging on boreal mixed-wood ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Forest Ecology and Management 236(1): 102–112. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.09.004
Koltz A.M., Burkle L.A., Pressler Y., Dell J.E., Vidal M.C., Richards L.A., Murphy S.M. 2018. Global change and the importance of fire for the ecology and evolution of insects. Current Opinion in Insect Science 29: 110–116. DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.07.015
Kral K.C., Limb R.F., Harmon J.P., Hovick T.J. 2017. Arthropods and fire: previous research shaping future conservation. Rangeland Ecology and Management 70(5): 589–598. DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2017.03.006
Kryzhanovskij O.L., Belousov I.A., Kabak I.I., Kataev B.M., Makarov K.V., Shilenkov V.G. 1995. A Checklist of the Ground-Beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands (Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae). Sofia – Moscow: PENSOFT Publishers. 271 р.
Kuznetsov N.I. 1960. Vegetation of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 1: 129–220. [In Russian]
Lemdahl G., Buckland P.I., Mortensen M.F. 2014. Lateglacial insect assemblages from the Palaeolithic site Slotseng: new evidence concerning climate and environment in SW Denmark. Quaternary International 341: 172–183. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.01.050
Löbl I., Löbl D. (Eds.). 2017. Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Revised and updated revision. Vol. 1. Archostemata-Myxophaga-Adephaga. Lieden-Boston: Brill. 1443 p. DOI: 10.1163/9789004330290
Magurran A.E. 1996. Ecological diversity and its measurement. London: Chapman & Hall. 179 p.
Makarov K.V., Kryzhanovskit O.L., Belousov I.A., Zamotajlov A.S., Kabak I.I., Kaaev B.M., Shilenkov V.G., Matalin A.V., Fedorenko D.N., Komarov E.V. 2018. Systematic list of carabid beetles (Carabidae) of Russia. Available from: http://www.zin.ru/Animalia/Coleoptera/rus/car_rus.htm [Retrieved on 08.12.2018]. [In Russian]
Martikainen P., Kouki J., Heikkala O. 2006. The effects of green tree retention and subsequent prescribed burning on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in boreal pine-dominated forests. Ecography 29(5): 659–670. DOI: 10.1111/j.2006.0906-7590.04562.x
Matalin A., Trushitsina O.S., Makarov K.V. 2017. Influence of different types of wildfire on the community structure of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in pine forests of the Meshchera Lowlands. In: 18th European Carabidologist Meeting (25–29 September 2017). Rennes, France. P. 87.
Moretti M., Duelli P., Obrist M. 2006. Biodiversity and resilience of arthropod communities after fire disturbance in temperate forests. Oecologia 149(2): 312–327. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-006-0450-z
Neary D.G., Klopatek C.C., DeBano L.F., Ffolliott P.F. 1999. Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis. Forest Ecology and Management 122(1–2): 51–71. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1127(99)00032-8
Niemelä J., Haila Y., Punttila P. 1996. The importance of small-scale heterogeneity in boreal forests: variation in diversity in forest-floor invertebrates across the succession gradient. Ecography 19(3): 352–368. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1996.tb01264.x
Niemelä J., Koivula M., Kotze D.J. 2007. The effects of forestry on carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in boreal forests. Journal Insect Conservation 11(1): 5–18. DOI: 10.1007/s10841-006-9014-0
Niklasson M., Granström A. 2000. Numbers and sizes of fires, long-term spatially explicit fire history in a Swedish boreal landscape. Ecology 81(6): 1484–1499. DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2000)081[1484:NASOFL]2.0.CO;2
Novenko E.Y., Mazei N.G., Kupriyanov D.A., Tsyganov A.N., Payne R.J., Chernyshov V.A., Mazei Y.A., Volkova E.M. 2018. Vegetation dynamics and fire history at the southern boundary of the forest vegetation zone in European Russia during the middle and late Holocene. Holocene 28(2): 308–322. DOI: 10.1177/0959683617721331
Paquin P. 2008. Carabid beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) diversity in the black spruce succession of eastern Canada. Biological Conservation 141(1): 261–275. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2007.10.001
Potapova N.A. 1984. Carabid fauna in the recovering fire-damaged areas. In: Issues of Soil Zoology. Vol. 2. Ashkhabad. P. 60–61. [In Russian]
Roloff G.J., Mealey S.P., Clay Ch., Barry J., Yanish C., Neuenschwander L. 2005. A process for modeling short- and long-term risk in the southern Oregon Cascades. Forest Ecology and Management 11(1–2): 166–190. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2005.02.006
Ruchin A.B. 2016. Mesofauna of selected quarters in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve at the next year after the 2010 wildfire. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 17: 183–186. [In Russian]
Ruchin A.B., Egorov L.V. 2018. Fauna of longicorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Mordovia. Russian Entomological Journal 27(2): 161–177. DOI: 10.15298/rusentj.27.2.07
Ruchin A.B., Mikhailenko A.P. 2018. Fauna of mantids and orthopterans (Insecta: Mantodea, Orthoptera) of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve, Russia. Biodiversitas 19(4): 1194–1206. DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d190403
Ruchin A.B., Egorov L.V., Alexeev S.K., Artaev O.N. 2016. Carabid beetles of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (annotated list of species). Moscow. 36 p. [In Russian]
Ruchin A.B., Egorov L.V., Semishin G.B. 2018. Fauna of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in the interfluve of Rivers Moksha and Sura, Republic of Mordovia, Russia. Biodiversitas 19(4): 1352–1365. DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d190423
Ryan K.C. 2002. Dynamic interactions between forest structure and fire behavior in boreal ecosystems. Silva Fennica 36: 13–39.
Saint-Germain M., Larrivée M., Drapeau P., Fahrig L., Buddlea C.M. 2005. Short-term response of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to fire and logging in a spruce-dominated boreal landscape. Forest Ecology and Management 212(1–3): 118–126. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.001
Šamonil P., Moravcova A., Pokorny P., Zackova P., Kaspar J., Vasickova I., Danek P., Novak J., Hajkova P., Adam D., Leuschner H.H. 2018. The disturbance regime of an Early Holocene swamp forest in the Czech Republic, as revealed by dendroecological, pollen and macrofossil data. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 507: 81–96. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.07.001
Sazawa K., Yoshida H., Okusu K., Hata N., Kuramitz H. 2018. Effects of forest fire on the properties of soil and humic substances extracted from forest soil in Gunma, Japan. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25(30): 30325–30338. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3011-1
Sharova I.Kh. 1981. Life forms of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Moscow: Nauka. 283 p. [In Russian]
Shugaev N.I., Khapugin A.A., Vargot E.V. 2015. Analysis of the first changes in vegetation cover of forests in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve after the 2010 wildfire. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 14: 396–407. [In Russian]
Sieber A., Kuemmerle T., Prishchepov A.V., Wendland K.J., Baumann M., Radeloff V.C., Baskin L.M., Hostert P. 2013. Landsat-based mapping of post-Soviet land-use change to assess the effectiveness of the Oksky and Mordovsky protected areas in European Russia. Remote Sensing of Environment 133: 38–51. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2013.01.021
Stambaugh M.C., Marschall J.M., Abadir E.R., Jones B.C., Brose P.H., Dey D.C., Guyette R.P. 2018. Wave of fire: an anthropogenic signal in historical fire regimes across central Pennsylvania, USA. Ecosphere 9(5): e02222. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2222
Swengel A.B. 2001. A literature review of insect responses to fire, compared to other managements of open habitat. Biodiversity and Conservation 10(7): 1141–1169. DOI: 10.1023/A:1016683807033
Tereshkin I.S., Tereshkina L.V. 2006. Vegetation of the Mordovia Reserve. Successive series of the successions. Proceedings of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve 7: 186–287. [In Russian]
Trushicina O.S., Matalin A.V., Makarov K.V. 2018. Spatial distribution and life cycle of the pyrophilous ground beetle Pterostichus quadrifoveolatus Letzner, 1852 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the forests of the Meshchera Lowland. In: XVIII All-Russian Meeting on soil zoology. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. P. 201–202. [In Russian]
Turner M.G., Hargrove W.W., Gardner R.H., Romme W.H. 1994. Effects of fire on landscape heterogeneity in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Journal of Vegetation Science 5(5): 731–742. DOI: 10.2307/3235886
Ukhova N.L., Esyunin S.L., Belyaeva N.V. 1999. Fauna structure and abundance of soil mesofauna in primary succession community on the place of long herb-fern fir-spruce forest. In: Biodiversity of Protected Areas: estimation, protection, monitoring. Samara. P. 169–175. [In Russian]
Wikars L.O. 1995. Clear-cutting before burning prevents establishment of the fire-adapted Agonum quadripunctatum (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annales Zoologici Fennici 32(4): 375–384.
Zaitsev A.S., Gongalsky K.B., Malmström A., Persson T., Bengtsson J. 2016. Why are forest fires generally neglected in soil fauna research? A mini-review. Applied Soil Ecology 98: 261–271. DOI: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2015.10.012