Assemblages of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in Secondary Deciduous Forests of Selected Regions of the Nemoral Biome in European Russia (Spring—Early Summer Aspect)

The nemoral biome encompasses some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in Europe, yet it has been extensively transformed by human activity. The capacity of secondary forests that have developed on sites of clear-cut broadleaved forests to sustain ground beetle diversity remains insufficiently studied. Ground beetles were sampled using pitfall traps during May–July in 21 post-logging forest stands across six administrative regions of Central Russia. A total of 90 ground beetle species were recorded. The superdominant species in most habitats were Carabus cancellatus Ill. and Pterostichus melanarius Ill. The median species richness per sampling plot was 17, and the median activity density was 33.6 individuals per 100 trap-days. The similarity of ground beetle assemblages, in terms of both species composition and community structure, is determined primarily by habitat characteristics rather than by the spatial proximity of sampling sites. The most robust predictor of both species composition and community structure was the percentage cover of Corylus avellana. A large proportion of exposed soil within forest stands is associated with a higher activity density of mixophytophagous stratohortobionts, predominantly Harpalus rufipes L. As the distance from large forest tracts increased, the activity density of large walking epigeobiont zoophages declined. Overall, the species structure of ground beetle assemblages was only weakly predictable.