Necrophilous Histerid Beetle Communities (Coleoptera: Histeridae) in Central Spain: Species Composition and Habitat Preferences

Despite the applied importance of necrophilous histerid beetles, their communities and habitat preferences had not been characterized in the Iberian Peninsula. The current article describes the composition of those communities in seven types of natural habitats along a bioclimatical gradient in cent...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín Vega, Daniel|||0000-0002-5626-5441, Cifrián Yagüe, Blanca|||0000-0002-5736-9349, Díaz Aranda, Luisa María|||0000-0001-8450-0544, Baz Ramos, Arturo|||0000-0002-6750-2940
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/63247
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/63247
https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvv077
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Coleoptera
Histeridae
Histerid beetle
Carrion
Vegetation
Zoología
Zoology
Descripción
Sumario:Despite the applied importance of necrophilous histerid beetles, their communities and habitat preferences had not been characterized in the Iberian Peninsula. The current article describes the composition of those communities in seven types of natural habitats along a bioclimatical gradient in central Spain, describing and discussing the habitat preferences and niche breadths of the most abundant species. In total, 25 species of necrophilous Histeridae were collected using carrion-baited traps. As a result, six groups of species can be distinguished according to their habitat preferences. These groupings depend on either the distribution among habitats or their restriction to certain habitats. Moreover, within each habitat, the type of vegetation was a factor structuring histerid communities, with those species with wide distribution throughout several habitats showing a preference for more open areas.