Pj. Walsh et al., THE INFLUENCE OF SOIL TYPE AND PINE SPECIES ON THE CARABID COMMUNITY OF A PLANTATION FOREST WITH A HISTORY OF PINE BEAUTY MOTH INFESTATION, Forestry, 66(2), 1993, pp. 135-146
The community composition of Carabid beetles, some species of which ar
e known predators of pine beauty moth, was examined within a Scottish
plantation forest. Sites differing in soil type and the species of tre
es planted were sampled with pitfall traps in most weeks of a 3-year p
eriod. There were faunal differences between sites with lodgepole pine
on deep peat and other sites in the study (lodgepole pine on iron-pan
soil, species mixture of lodgepole and Scots pine, and pure stands of
Scots pine). In general deep peat sites supported fewer species and i
ndividuals of carabids. Three Carabus species were implicated as likel
y predators of Panolis flammea pupae and each was less abundant on the
sites with lodgepole pine. It is suggested that the susceptibility to
pine beauty moth of lodgepole pine growing on deep peat substrates is
at least partly attributable to impoverished predator faunas.