Impact of Off-Road Vehicle Use on Dune Endemic Coleoptera

Scarab diversity in the Algodones Dunes (Imperial Co., CA) was assessed using a series of light-bucket transects to ascertain the impact of off-road vehicle (ORV) use. We compared dune endemic scarab species on the dunes south of Hwy. 78 that receive intense ORV use and the populations on the protec...

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Veröffentlicht in:Annals of the Entomological Society of America 2008-03, Vol.101 (2), p.411-417
Hauptverfasser: Van Dam, Alex R, Van Dam, Matthew H
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Scarab diversity in the Algodones Dunes (Imperial Co., CA) was assessed using a series of light-bucket transects to ascertain the impact of off-road vehicle (ORV) use. We compared dune endemic scarab species on the dunes south of Hwy. 78 that receive intense ORV use and the populations on the protected dunes north of Hwy. 78. We also compared the total numbers of Coleoptera collected. Our data indicate that unprotected dunes experienced a significant decline in Coleoptera populations, diversity, and species evenness. These results demonstrate that ORV use has a severe negative impact on Coleoptera that inhabit sand dunes.
ISSN:0013-8746
1938-2901
0013-8746
DOI:10.1603/0013-8746(2008)101[411:IOOVUO]2.0.CO;2