DOES NATIVE INVERTEBRATE DIVERSITY REFLECT NATIVE PLANT DIVERSITY - ACASE-STUDY FROM NEW-ZEALAND AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION

An underlying assumption of ecological surveys which use rapid invento ry techniques is that native invertebrate diversity will be reflected by native plant diversity. This supposition was rested by collecting C oleoptera from seven different habitats, which varied in the proportio ns of native and introduced plant species found within them. Pitfall t raps were used to collect the beetles from a catchment on the South Co ast of the lower North Island, New Zealand. A total of 150 beetle 'spe cies' were found over a nine-month period. The native/introduced statu s of 127 of those species were determined, 114 were classified as nati ve, and 13 as introduced. A positive trend was found between the perce ntage of native beetle species collected, and the percentage of native vegetation in the habitat under study. The sites with the greatest nu mber of plant species (both native and introduced) contained the most beetle species, but modified habitats still showed high beetle diversi ty and should be considered for conservation purposes in some areas. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.