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OF GROUND-BEETLES AND MEN: INTRODUCED SPECIES AND THE SYNANTHROPIC FAUNA OF WESTERN CANADA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

John R. Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
D. Hughes Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
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Abstract

Assemblages of carabid beetles occurring in anthropogenic habitats in western Canada include native and introduced species. In this study, about 70% of the native species encountered in anthropogenic habitats have their main centres of abundance in native grassland. Twenty species known from British Columbia are of recent European origin. These species were probably introduced in ballast carried by commercial sailing vessels or in shipments of nursery stock. The species that have successfully colonized western Canada cannot be distinguished from a random sample of the estimated source fauna with respect to either taxonomic distribution or body size. However, all introduced species are characteristic of disturbed and/or anthropogenic habitats in Great Britain and are strictly synanthropic in British Columbia. Where they occurred, introduced species were usually numerically dominant members of anthropogenic assemblages. Both flight and human-assisted transport must be invoked to explain the patterns of range expansion observed for introduced species. Although the presence of introduced species was correlated with reduced diversity of native species, the carabid fauna of western Canada has been generally enriched because only one native species is strictly synanthropic.

Résumé

Les ensembles de carabides des milieux anthropogéniques de l'Ouest du Canada comprennent des espèces indigènes et introduites. D'après cette étude, environ 70% des espèces indigènes des milieux anthropogéniques ont leurs centres majeurs d'abondance en prairie indigène. Vingt espèces connues de la Colombie Britannique sont d'origine Européenne récente. Ces espèces ont probablement été introduites dans le ballast des vaisseaux de transport commercial, ou avec du matériel de pépinière. Les espèces qui ont réussi à s'établir dans l'Ouest Canadien ne diffèrent pas d'un échantillon aléatoire provenant de la faune estimée être à sa source, que ce soit de par la distribution taxonomique ou la taille corporelle. Cependant, toutes les espèces introduites sont caractéristiques de milieux dérangés ou anthropogéniques de la Grande Bretagne, et ont un caractère synanthropique en Colombie Britannique. Lorsque présentes, les espèces introduites se sont en général avérées les plus abondantes des ensembles anthropogéniques. On doit invoquer aussi bien le vol que le transport assisté par l'homme pour expliquer le cheminement de l'expansion des espèces introduites. Quoiqu'on ait pu corréler la présence d'espèces introduites avec une faune indigène peu diversifiée, la faune carabique de l'Ouest du Canada a en général été enrichie, car une seule espèce indigène est strictement synanthropique.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

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