Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The richness in species of fungi and their associated insects are key elements to our forests´ biodiversity. The community of species in polypores is often dominated by ciid beetles. The purpose of this field study was to examinate how ciid beetles (Ciidae) in annual polypore fungi select their niche and choose among the fruiting bodies according to different environmental variables. Sixty-three samples of polypores were collected from six sites in the province of Uppland. Occurrence and abundance of ciid beetles were analyzed for the different variables. Five genus of polypores were identified, as well as corticioid fungi. In these, five different species of ciid beetles were found. The most abundant beetle species was Sulcacis affinis, but the species Octotemnus glabriculus occurred in the greatest frequency. The ciid beetles occur in the genera Trametes and Lenzites but not at all in genus Cerrena or the group of corticioid fungi. According to a prior study (Reibnitz, 1999) it corresponds to that ciid beetles occur in abundance in the genera of Tremetes and Lenzites. However, these species of ciid beetles have also been found in the fungi genus of Cerrena (Reibnitz, 1999) and in a larger study it is possible that there had been records also in that genus. The results showed that ciid betles occurred more frequently in “shaded” exposure and not at all in “sunny” exposure, which contradicts earlier studies (Komonen and Kouki,2005; Reibnitz, 1999). The conclusion is drawn that interspecific competition and niche differentiation are important factors that influence occurrence pattern of ciid beetles in polypores.