Population of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the central part of the Baraba forest steppe (South-West Siberia)
In 11 sites of the central part of forest-steppe zone near the Lake Malye Chany (Novosibirsk oblast, south of Western Siberia) we found 107 species of Carabidae (Coleoptera) of 37 genera within 2 years of study. Ground beetles divided into 3 communities, different in species composition and abundance: communities of coastal habitats, birch forests and grasslands. Therewith, carabid communities are differ from each other in the arealogical composition of the constituent species. As a whole, Chany fauna of carabids is more «northern» than that in the southern forest-steppe. Birch stands have a higher proportion of boreal species, in the grass biotopes there is a significant share of subarid species, and in coastal - polyzonal species. Four seasonal peaks of ground beetles activity were noted: spring-early summer (dominants: Pterostichus oblongopunctatus, Poecilus versicolor, Amara comminus); medium-summer (Harpalus rufipes, Notiophilus germinyi, Poecilus fortipes, Pterostichus niger), late-summer (Calathus erratus, C. mela¬nocephalus) and autumn (Amara infima).