Enzymatic Activity of Soil on the Occurrence of the Endangered Beetle Cheilotoma musciformis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Xerothermic Grasslands

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 15; no. 5; p. 307
• Main Authors: Futa, Barbara, Kulik, Mariusz, Kajtoch, Łukasz, Mazur, Miłosz A., Jaźwa, Małgorzata, Ścibior, Radosław, Wielgos, Justyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.04.2024
• Subjects: acid phosphatase; alkaline phosphatase; Animals; Beetles; Bushes; Chrysomelidae; dehydrogenases; Endangered & extinct species; Entomofauna; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Enzymes; farms; Grasslands; Grazing; Habitats; Host plants; Insects; Nitrogen; Organic carbon; Phosphatase; Plant species; Plants (botany); Poland; Protected species; soil; Soil characteristics; soil enzymes; Soil fertility; Soil properties; Soil structure; Soils; species; total nitrogen; total nitrogen content; Total organic carbon; total organic carbon content; urease; Vegetation; vegetation structure; wastelands; Wildlife conservation; Poland; Europe; leaf beetle; total organic carbon content; urease; acid phosphatase; alkaline phosphatase; dehydrogenases; total nitrogen content
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects15050307

This work attempts to find the reasons for the rather limited range of occurrence of Cheilotoma musciformis in Poland, based on soil properties, which affects both the plant cover and the entomofauna. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of soil enzyme activity on the occurrence of Ch. musciformis in xerothermic grasslands in Southern Poland. The sites inhabited by the beetle were most often extensively grazed by farm animals or had recently been cleared of bushes. The control plots were in wasteland. The soils of most sites with Ch. musciformis were characterized by significantly higher activity of the tested enzymes and higher content of total organic carbon and total nitrogen, as well as lower pHKCl compared to the control sites. The higher enzymatic activity of soils in sites with the beetle than in the control sites may indicate the dependence of the occurrence of this beetle on the presence of patches of extensively grazed xerothermic grasslands. Grazing influences the behavior of preferred host plant species. Therefore, when planning active protection of xerothermic grasslands inhabited by Ch. musciformis, changes in the biochemical properties of the soil and vegetation structure should be taken into account.