MAPPING OF COENOTIC GROUPS OF TRUE BUGS FROM RELICT ELM FORESTS FORMING THE PART OF FLOODPLAIN VEGETATION ALONG THE SELENGA RIVER VALLEY (REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA)
E.V. Sofronova1, O.A. Anenkhonov2, V.V. Chepinoga3, A.P. Sofronov1
1V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia
2Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
3Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia
Keywords: vegetation map, zoogeographic mapping, true bugs, communities of Ulmus japonica, Eastern Cisbaikalia
Abstract
Results from mapping coenotic groups of true bugs (Order Heteroptera) coenotic groups mapping on the basis of the vegetation map are presented. The geobotanic map for the key site (Senokosnyi Island, Selenga River valley, Eastern Cisbaikalia) was created. The map includes eight legend items corresponding to vegetation contour types of the level of groups of associations, two of which contain derivative (pyrogenic) variants. For each group of plant associations, the species composition of true bugs was revealed. In total, 62 species of Heteroptera were registered on Senokosnyi Island. Comparing to the groups of associations of the geobotanical map, for Heteroptera insects ecotone habitats were additionally distinguished. The ecotones are formed along the border between densely closed Japanese elm mesophilic grass forests and adjacent meadows. Using the Sørensen coefficient the similarity of the true bug species composition in different plant associations has been computed. The true bugs species composition both of pyrogenic variants of elm mesophilous grass forests and willow communities have been combined into one cluster with a high similarity coefficient. Ecotones and elm mesoxerophilous herbaceous forests were also combined into one cluster. Based on the data obtained, a map of the population of true bugs was created, which includes nine items of the legend. In general, the distribution of Heteroptera obeys the distribution of plant communities. In some cases, however, there are differences in the true bugs spatial distribution when compared to the vegetation contours, for example, for ecotone habitats. As a consequence of ground fires, most of the characteristic species of bugs that inhabit the plant litter, the soil surface, and the grass layer disappear from the post-pyrogenic habitats. At the same time, the role of mesoxerophilic species inhabiting open biotopes becomes stronger. The method of coupled mapping can be applied for creating maps of invertebrate populations in different territories.
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