Assemblies of Coleoptera (Ectognatha, Coleoptera) of the Yuzhno-Ostashkovichskoye oil field

Objective. To assess the species and ecological structure of Coleoptera assemblages in forest ecosystems of the Yuzhno-Ostashkovichskoye oil field, associated with oil production sites.

Materials and methods. Field studies of beetle assemblages were conducted using formalin-coated soil traps (20 per field site) in five replicates. At sites with oil wells, the traps were arranged in a line, increasing in distance from the well waste edge. Calculation of means and their errors, one-way analysis of variance for abundance comparisons, were performed using the PAST 4.17 package. R (vegan and FSA packages) were used to determine alpha diversity indices and evaluate the significance of their differences. A cluster analysis of species similarity was constructed, and a species ranking chart was constructed using the BioDiversity Pro 2.0 package. Dominance in the assemblages was determined using the Renkonen scale. Species names and taxonomic order of ground beetles are given according to the Catalogue of Coleoptera of Belarus.

Results. A total of 985 Coleoptera specimens belonging to 93 species from 72 genera and 21 families were counted. The species composition and abundance of Coleoptera were determined in assemblages associated with oil wells and in a control site. No overall effect of assemblage location on Coleoptera abundance was revealed (H_K-W=2.46, p=0.253). At the same time, alpha diversity indices in the studied assemblages differed significantly both in communities associated with oil wells and in the control habitat (p<0.001). Overall, the studied assemblages were composed predominantly of forest meadow and field mesophiles and mesoxerophiles, zoophages and phytophages, and less frequently, mixophytophages.

Conclusion. The habitat conditions near boreholes contributed to the formation of more diverse and balanced communities compared to the control habitat. At the same time, the assemblages near oil wells exhibited a nearly complete reorganization of Coleoptera assemblages, which significantly differed in both species composition and ecological structure, as well as diversity parameters, compared to the natural forest habitat. This can be interpreted as a result of anthropogenic intervention.

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