ARTHROPOD BIODIVERSITY FROM POPULUS COARSE WOODY MATERIAL IN NORTH-CENTRAL ALBERTA - A REVIEW OF TAXA AND COLLECTION METHODS

Arthropods associated with Populus coarse woody material (CWM) were sa mpled from aspen-mixedwood stands in north-central Alberta using reari ngs from wood bolts and flight-intercept traps attached to snags. More than 39 000 arthropod specimens were collected over 3 years, comprise d mainly of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Acari. Detailed anal yses are provided to compare the number of species, standardized abund ance, and trophic structure between collecting methods for 257 saproxy lic species of Coleoptera. Abundance of beetle species, from both rear ings and window traps, and rarefaction est:mates of species richness i ndicate little difference between methods with respect to expected num ber of species. However the abundance of particular beetle families di ffered significantly between methods, with the Aderidae, Anthicidae, a nd Scaphidiidae collected mainly in rearings and the Micropeplidae, Bo strichidae, Cephaloidae, Clambidae, Salpingidae, and Tenebrionidae mor e commonly collected with window traps. Fungivorous and predatory beet les were more abundant in CWM than wood borers, scavengers, or taxa wi th undetermined feeding habits, but the two methods revealed similar o verall trophic structure. To census the variability in saproxylic arth ropod faunas from CWM, a combination of collecting method is recommend ed.