Multilevel Analysis of Ground Beetle Responses to Forest Management: Integrating Species Composition, Morphological Traits and Developmental Instability.

ABSTRACT: This study evaluates the response of ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblage to forest management practices by integrating species composition, body traits, wing morphology and developmental instability. Traditional approaches that rely on averaged identity-based descriptors often overlook phenotypic plasticity and functional trait variability, potentially masking species-specific responses to environmental changes. To address this, we applied a three-layered analytical approach to address this gap, utilising ground beetle occurrence and morphological trait data from Podyjí National Park, Czech Republic. The first layer assessed assemblage composition with ecological and dietary preferences across control, ecotone and clearing treatments using multivariate techniques. Building on

SUBMITTER: Stoces D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11751256 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature