Ground‑dwelling beetle communities in newly established suburban yards: an exploration of early responses to landscape design

Interest is growing in designing resilient urban environments that provide social and ecological benefits. Despite this trend, residential landscape management often simplifies vegetation by favoring lawns and ornamental flower beds while neglecting multi-layered native plant structures. Such practices can strongly influence biodiversity, particularly insects that are sensitive to environmental change. Cities are hotspots for new species introductions, which may further affect native fauna, yet quantitative assessments in residential landscapes remain scarce, especially in newly developed residential areas where ecological communities are only beginning to establish. To address this gap, we assessed the effects of residential landscaping choices on ground-dwelling beetle communities in a recent suburban development by comparing native-dominated, turf-free lots to nearby conventional landscapes consisting of turf and ornamental plantings. Beetle diversity and functional richness was higher in native landscaping early in the season but shifted toward conventional landscaping during warmer months. Turf monocultures supported the highest presence of non-native species, especially in summer, suggesting that seasonal dynamics strongly shape beetle communities at the scale of individual housing lots. Because these residential landscapes were recently established, community patterns may still be emerging. The ecological benefits of native-dominated, turf-free landscaping may strengthen over time as successional processes allow native vegetation and associated taxa to become established. Overall, our findings offer practical guidance for projects in land development, highlighting that incorporating regionally native plantings and reducing turfgrass monocultures can enhance urban native biodiversity in new suburban land development.