IMPACT OF A PYRETHROID INSECTICIDE APPLICATION ON GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) IN A WINTER RAPE STAND

Abstract ŠLACHTA M., VOKOUN J.: Impact of a pyrethroid insecticide application on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a winter rape stand. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2011, LIX, No. 3, pp. 179-184 The eff ect of the application of insecticide FURY 10 EW (0.15 L ha −

Summary of the morphological and ecological traits of Central European dung beetles.

Ecological, morphological and life-history traits have been increasingly used in community ecology during the last decade. Dung beetles represent a model group of insects frequently used in studies of landscape ecology and grassland management. Their body sizes and nesting behavioral traits are regularly used to help understand ecological processes at the community level. However, information on their seasonal activity, wing morphometry and dung specialization is sparse in published reports, or is simply not available yet. We thus compiled a comprehensive list of the morphological and ecological traits of Central European dung beetles (Geotrupidae, Scarabaeidae and Aphodiidae). We gathered information from published works and, for the first time, took morphometric measurements of wings. We provide a database of 12 traits for all 100 dung beetle species occurring in Central Europe. Most species are not restricted to one specific dung type, and the most frequently used dung types are sheep/goat, cattle and horse dung, which are almost equally exploited by 90, 89 and 87 species, respectively. More than one-third of all species are active in winter, and the number of active species is the highest in June. The wing morphometry shows a high variation and is largely determined by the family identity; the ratio of elytron length to wing area is the largest in Aphodiidae but the smallest in Geotrupidae. Our database is the first standardized set of information for Central European dung beetles and can be used in future trait-based studies focusing on the ecology and conservation of these beetles

Impact of combined management on the newly established pasture sward

The effect of the combined grazing and cutting management on the phytocenological characteristics was examined at the submountain paddock in the South Bohemia. The botanical scans were sampled during the five-years study (2006–2010) starting after the sowing the pasture sward in the originally arable field and 0–2 years after the beginning of the grazing (paddock A and paddock B, respectively). The paddock A was grazed all year round, whereas the paddock B was grazed in spring and autumn and cut in summer for hay. At both paddocks, Lolium perenne, Trifolium repens and Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia dominated the community of total 43 and 47 species (paddock A and B, respectively). Among the sowing species, Lolium perenne, Festuca pratensis, Poa pratensis, Festuca rubra and Trifolium repens increased its cover on both paddocks, while Phleum pratense increased its cover only at paddock B. Lolium multiflorum decreased it cover at both paddocks. Most of arable field weeds disappeared (paddock A) or decreased its cover (paddock B). The cover of herb layer was higher at paddock A than at paddock B, whereas the number of species (N), the diversity (H) and the equitability (J) was higher at paddock B than at paddock A. The cover of herb layer increased during the study at both the paddocks, while the number of species declined at paddock A and increased at paddock B