Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?
Ground beetles are important invertebrate seed predators in temperate agro-ecosystems. However, there is a lack of information regarding which seed properties are important to carabids when they select seeds for consumption. Therefore, seed properties, such as size, shape, morphological defence, and...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/11/757 |
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| author | Hana Foffová Sanja Ćavar Zeljković Alois Honěk Zdenka Martinková Petr Tarkowski Pavel Saska |
| author_facet | Hana Foffová Sanja Ćavar Zeljković Alois Honěk Zdenka Martinková Petr Tarkowski Pavel Saska |
| author_sort | Hana Foffová |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ground beetles are important invertebrate seed predators in temperate agro-ecosystems. However, there is a lack of information regarding which seed properties are important to carabids when they select seeds for consumption. Therefore, seed properties, such as size, shape, morphological defence, and chemical composition, were measured, and in addition to seed taxonomy and ecology, these data were used to explain carabid preferences. Carabid preferences were assessed using a multi-choice experiment with 28 species of weed seeds presented to 37 species of Carabidae. Multiple regression on distance matrices (MRM) was used to determine the importance of particular sets of seed properties for carabids. The analysis was conducted for the full set of carabids (37 species) as well as for subsets of species belonging to the tribes of Harpalini or Zabrini. For the complete set of species, seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties significantly explained carabid preferences (proportion of explained variance, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.465). The model for Harpalini fit the data comparably well (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.477), and seed dimensions, seed mass and seed coat properties were significant. In comparison to that for Harpalini, the model for Zabrini had much lower explanatory power (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.248), and the properties that significantly affected the preferences were seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties. This result suggests that the seed traits that carabids respond to may be specific to taxonomic and likely relate to the degree of specialisation for seeds. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms that determine the preferences of carabid beetles for seeds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:06:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-717fd351e4c54f45acdc6d6ca6b48241 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:06:08Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-717fd351e4c54f45acdc6d6ca6b482412023-11-20T19:43:14ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502020-11-01111175710.3390/insects11110757Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?Hana Foffová0Sanja Ćavar Zeljković1Alois Honěk2Zdenka Martinková3Petr Tarkowski4Pavel Saska5Crop Research Institute, Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Drnovská 507, Ruzyně, 161 06 Praha 6, Czech RepublicCentre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Department of Genetic Resources for Vegetables, Medicinal and Special Plants, Crop Research Institute, Šlechtitelů 29, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicCrop Research Institute, Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Drnovská 507, Ruzyně, 161 06 Praha 6, Czech RepublicCrop Research Institute, Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Drnovská 507, Ruzyně, 161 06 Praha 6, Czech RepublicCentre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Department of Genetic Resources for Vegetables, Medicinal and Special Plants, Crop Research Institute, Šlechtitelů 29, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicCrop Research Institute, Functional Diversity in Agro-Ecosystems, Drnovská 507, Ruzyně, 161 06 Praha 6, Czech RepublicGround beetles are important invertebrate seed predators in temperate agro-ecosystems. However, there is a lack of information regarding which seed properties are important to carabids when they select seeds for consumption. Therefore, seed properties, such as size, shape, morphological defence, and chemical composition, were measured, and in addition to seed taxonomy and ecology, these data were used to explain carabid preferences. Carabid preferences were assessed using a multi-choice experiment with 28 species of weed seeds presented to 37 species of Carabidae. Multiple regression on distance matrices (MRM) was used to determine the importance of particular sets of seed properties for carabids. The analysis was conducted for the full set of carabids (37 species) as well as for subsets of species belonging to the tribes of Harpalini or Zabrini. For the complete set of species, seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties significantly explained carabid preferences (proportion of explained variance, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.465). The model for Harpalini fit the data comparably well (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.477), and seed dimensions, seed mass and seed coat properties were significant. In comparison to that for Harpalini, the model for Zabrini had much lower explanatory power (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.248), and the properties that significantly affected the preferences were seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties. This result suggests that the seed traits that carabids respond to may be specific to taxonomic and likely relate to the degree of specialisation for seeds. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms that determine the preferences of carabid beetles for seeds.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/11/757preferenceground beetlesweed seedsseed properties |
| spellingShingle | Hana Foffová Sanja Ćavar Zeljković Alois Honěk Zdenka Martinková Petr Tarkowski Pavel Saska Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? Insects preference ground beetles weed seeds seed properties |
| title | Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? |
| title_full | Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? |
| title_fullStr | Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? |
| title_short | Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators? |
| title_sort | which seed properties determine the preferences of carabid beetle seed predators |
| topic | preference ground beetles weed seeds seed properties |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/11/757 |
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