Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T18:44:33.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

OF GROUND-BEETLES AND MEN: INTRODUCED SPECIES AND THE SYNANTHROPIC FAUNA OF WESTERN CANADA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

John R. Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
D. Hughes Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
Get access

Abstract

Assemblages of carabid beetles occurring in anthropogenic habitats in western Canada include native and introduced species. In this study, about 70% of the native species encountered in anthropogenic habitats have their main centres of abundance in native grassland. Twenty species known from British Columbia are of recent European origin. These species were probably introduced in ballast carried by commercial sailing vessels or in shipments of nursery stock. The species that have successfully colonized western Canada cannot be distinguished from a random sample of the estimated source fauna with respect to either taxonomic distribution or body size. However, all introduced species are characteristic of disturbed and/or anthropogenic habitats in Great Britain and are strictly synanthropic in British Columbia. Where they occurred, introduced species were usually numerically dominant members of anthropogenic assemblages. Both flight and human-assisted transport must be invoked to explain the patterns of range expansion observed for introduced species. Although the presence of introduced species was correlated with reduced diversity of native species, the carabid fauna of western Canada has been generally enriched because only one native species is strictly synanthropic.

Résumé

Les ensembles de carabides des milieux anthropogéniques de l'Ouest du Canada comprennent des espèces indigènes et introduites. D'après cette étude, environ 70% des espèces indigènes des milieux anthropogéniques ont leurs centres majeurs d'abondance en prairie indigène. Vingt espèces connues de la Colombie Britannique sont d'origine Européenne récente. Ces espèces ont probablement été introduites dans le ballast des vaisseaux de transport commercial, ou avec du matériel de pépinière. Les espèces qui ont réussi à s'établir dans l'Ouest Canadien ne diffèrent pas d'un échantillon aléatoire provenant de la faune estimée être à sa source, que ce soit de par la distribution taxonomique ou la taille corporelle. Cependant, toutes les espèces introduites sont caractéristiques de milieux dérangés ou anthropogéniques de la Grande Bretagne, et ont un caractère synanthropique en Colombie Britannique. Lorsque présentes, les espèces introduites se sont en général avérées les plus abondantes des ensembles anthropogéniques. On doit invoquer aussi bien le vol que le transport assisté par l'homme pour expliquer le cheminement de l'expansion des espèces introduites. Quoiqu'on ait pu corréler la présence d'espèces introduites avec une faune indigène peu diversifiée, la faune carabique de l'Ouest du Canada a en général été enrichie, car une seule espèce indigène est strictement synanthropique.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boer, P.J. den. 1981. On the survival of populations in a heterogeneous and variable environment. Oecologia (Berl.) 50: 3953.Google Scholar
Bateman, M.A. 1977. Dispersal and species interaction as factors in the establishment and success of tropical fruit flies in new areas. Proc. Ecol. Soc. Aust. 10: 106112.Google Scholar
Browning, T.O. 1977. Processes that contribute to the establishment and success of exotic species in Australia. Proc. Ecol. Soc. Aust. 10: 2738.Google Scholar
Elton, C.S. 1958. The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. Methuen & Co. Ltd., London. 181 pp.Google Scholar
Embree, D.G. 1979. The ecology of colonizing species, with special emphasis on animal invaders. pp. 5166in Horn, D.J., Stairs, G.R., and Mitchell, R.D. (Eds.), Analysis of Ecological Systems. Ohio State Univ. Press, Columbus.Google Scholar
Larson, D.J., and Langor, D.W.. 1982. The carabid beetles of insular Newfoundland (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindellidae)—30 years after Lindroth. Can. Ent. 114: 591597.Google Scholar
Lazorko, W. 1977. Pterostichus strenuus Panz., a newly-discovered Palearctic species in the Vancouver area (Coleoptera: Carabidae). J. ent. Soc. Brit. Col. 74: 41.Google Scholar
Lenski, R.E. 1982. Effects of forest cutting on two Carabus species: evidence for competition for food. Ecol. 63: 12111217.10.2307/1938845Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 1957. The Faunal Connections between Europe and North America. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. 344 pp.Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. 1961, Part 2, Suppl. 20: 1200Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. 1963, Part 3, Suppl. 24: 201408Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. 1966, Part 4. Suppl. 29: 409648Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. 1968, Part 5, Suppl. 33: 649944Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. 1969, Part 6, Suppl. 34: 9451192Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 19611969. The ground-beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1–6. Opusc. Ent. xlviii + 1192 pp. Part 1, Suppl. 35: i–xlviii.Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 1963. The fauna history of Newfoundland, illustrated by carabid beetles. Opusc. Ent. Suppl. 23: 1112.Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 1974. Coleoptera: Carabidae. R. ent. Soc. Lond. Handb. Ident. Brit. Insects 4(2): 1148.Google Scholar
Lindroth, C.H. 1979. The theory of glacial refugia. pp. 385394in Erwin, T.L., Ball, G.E., and Whitehead, D.R. (Eds.), Carabid Beetles: Their Evolution, Natural History, and Classification. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.Google Scholar
Lowe, A.D. 1973. Insects. pp. 190203in Williams, G.R. (Ed.), The Natural History of New Zealand. Reed, Wellington.Google Scholar
Myers, J.H., and Iyer, R.. 1981. Phenotypic and genetic characteristics of the European cranefly following its introduction and spread in western North America. J. Anim. Ecol. 50: 519533.Google Scholar
Sailer, R.E. 1978. Our immigrant insect fauna. Bull. ent. Soc. Am. 24: 311.Google Scholar
Thiele, H.-U. 1977. Carabid Beetles in their Environments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 369 pp.Google Scholar
Turnbull, A.L. 1979. Recent changes to the insect fauna of Canada. pp. 180–194 in Danks, H.V. (Ed.), Canada and its Insect Fauna. Mem. ent. Soc. Can. 108. 573 pp.Google Scholar