Ground beetles (Coleoptera : Carabidae) as predators of conifer seeds
2019
Martinková, Zdenka | Koprdová, Stanislava | Kulfan, Ján | Zach, Peter | Honěk, Alois
Many species of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are important predators of seeds. While the con- sumption of herb seeds has been intensively studied, little attention has been paid to the consumption of seeds of gymnosperm plants. Here, we determined the consumption of seeds of six coniferous species by four co- mmon carabid species and compared carabid preference for conifer and selected common angiosperm weed seed species. In no-choice experiments, the large carabid species Pseudoophonus rufipes preferentially consu- med the seeds of Picea abies, Larix decidua and Pinus sylvestris. Pinus sylvestris was also preferred by ano- ther large carabid, Pterostichus melanarius. The smaller carabids Harpalus affinis and H. rubripes consumed conifer seeds reluctantly. The intensity of seed consumption by carabids decreased with increasing seed size. In choice experiments, both of the large carabid species preferred the small conifer seeds of P. sylvestris and L. decidua over herb seeds of similar size (Dipsacus fullonum, Galeopsis speciosa, Polygonum lapathifo- lium). Carabids may prefer conifer seeds because of their soft seed coats, regardless of their chemical pro- tections. Postdispersal predation of seeds by carabids may be an important mortality factor in some conifer species.
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