The Relative Importance of Spatial and Local Environmental Factors in Determining Beetle Assemblages in the Inner Mongolia Grassland.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to increase understanding of the relative importance of the input of geographic and local environmental factors on richness and composition of epigaeic steppe beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Tenebrionidae) along a geographic (longitudinal/precipitation) gradient in the Inner Mongolia grassland. Specifically, we evaluate the associations of environmental variables representing climate and environmental heterogeneity with beetle assemblages. Beetles were sampled using pitfall traps at 25 sites scattered across the full geographic extent of the study biome in 2011-2012. We used variance partitioning techniques and multi-model selection based on the Akaike information criterion to assess the relative importance of the spatial and environmental variables on beetle as

SUBMITTER: Yu XD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4854484 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature