Khobrakova L.T., Batmunkh T., Chuluunbaatar G. 2018. [Ground beetle communities (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the River Eroo Valley, Western Khentei Mountains, Northern Mongolia] // Euroasian Entomological Journal. Vol.17. No.4: 301–312 [in Russian, with English summary].
Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sakhyanovoi Str. 6, Ulan-Ude 670047 Russia.
Buryat State University, Smolina Str. 24 b, Ulan-Ude 670000 Russia.
Institute of Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Zhukova Prosp. 77, Ulaanbaatar 210351 Mongolia.
E-mail: khobrakova77@mail.ru, taamii_1223@yahoo.com, gantigaa_ch@yahoo.de.
doi: 10.15298/euroasentj.17.4.10
ABSTRACT. A study of the species composition and structure of ground beetle communities was carried out in the valley of the River Eroo, the compass tributary of the River Orkhon in West Khentei, Northern Mongolia. A variety of ground beetle communities, including 3 types and 5 variants, have been identified in terms of species composition and abundance. Typologically diverse communities of ground beetle were found in the floodplain landscapes of the River Eroo Valley (3), but were monotonous in the mountain steppes (1) and along the banks of the river (1). In the floodplain communities Carabus canaliculatus and Pterostichus eximius predominated, in the mountain steppe communities Poecilus fortipes and P. gebleri prevailed, and on the river banks Amara microdera and Nebria rufescens dominated. Two types of structural organization of ground beetle communities were identified on the basis of ecological structure and numerical indicators of (1) floodplain meadows, shrubs and forests, in which the species composition is formed by stenotopic forest, meadow-steppe and meadow species, characterized by high species richness, the structure of abundance and domination, noted low dominance of individual species, dominants, subdominants, rare and single species, and (2) mountain steppes, birch forests after a fire, and sand-pebble shoals, the species composition composed of eurytopic meadow-steppe and steppe species from adjacent steppe and forest biotopes; such communities are characterized by low indices of diversity and regularity, high indices of dominance. In the dominance structure of ground beetle communities subdominants are substituted by dominants. The ecological structure of the beetle communities of the Western Khentei and its species composition is characteristic of Transbaikalia.
KEY WORDS: ground beetles, Eroo River, Western Khentej Mountains, Mongolia, communities, structure, classification.