Activity of flying beetles (Coleoptera) at two heights in canopy gaps and intact forests in a hardwood forest in Quebec

We studied the effects of forest height and forest gap on assemblages of flying beetles in an American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. (Fagaceae) - Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh. (Aceraceae)) forest in Quebec. From June until August of 2005, beetles were collected in Lindgren funnel traps placed in the canopy (20-25 m height) and upper understorey (3-5 m height) in proximity to five forest gaps (15-30 m in diameter) (at the edge of the forest opening or within the closed-canopy forest). We collected 1852 beetles representing 38 families and 172 species. Based on rarefaction curves, species richness was significantly higher in the canopy than in the tipper understorey. Nonmetric Multidimensional scaling ordination revealed a change in species composition in relation to vertical stratification but not to the forest gaps. Our findings confirmed the importance of the vertical forest gradient to overall diversity of forest coleopterans.