Occurrence records, morphological data, and taxonomic voucher specimens for study of caraboid beetle (Coleoptera: Caraboidea) communities in early seral forests regenerating after wildfire, post-fire salvage logging, or commercial clearcuts in southwest Oregon

Abstract

The composition of carabid beetle assemblages can be sensitive to forest structure and disturbance, making them a useful indicator taxon for understanding the effects of forest management. Early seral forests regenerating from even-aged timber harvests share some structural similarities with those regenerating from natural stand-replacing disturbances. However, the degree to which timber harvests emulate natural disturbance for biodiversity is poorly understood in many temperate forest regions, including the Pacific Northwest. In this study, we compared carabid beetle assemblages collected in pitfall traps from early seral forests regenerating from commercial clearcuts, stand-replacing wildfire, or post-fire salvage logging across a gradient in stand ages in the Klamath Ecoregion of southwest Oregon. To gain insight into functional differences among assemblages, we measured several morphological traits on species in our sample. Here, we present occurrence data for each carabid specimen observed in the study, including voucher specimens deposited in the Oregon State Arthropod Collection, and morphological trait data generated from these specimens