Title Functional diversity, trophic interaction, development, and metabolism of ground beetles
(Coleoptera: Carabidae) in perennial Mediterranean agroecosystems Title (croatian) Funkcionalna raznolikost, trofički odnosi, razvoj i metabolizam trčaka (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
višegodišnjih mediteranskih agroekosustava Author Lara Ivanković Tatalović Mentor Lucija Šerić Jelaska (mentor)Mentor Tomislav Kos (komentor)Committee member Sandra Hudina (predsjednik povjerenstva)Committee member Darija Lemić (član povjerenstva)Granter University of Zagreb Defense date and country 2023-12-21, Croatia Scientific / art field, NATURAL SCIENCES Universal decimal classificationUDC ) 57 - Biological sciences. Physical anthropology. Biodiversity Abstract The goals of this dissertation were to measure impact of different types of management that are carried out
in Mediterranean olive groves and vineyards on the community, populations and individuals of carabid
beetles, who provide valuable ecosystem services to agriculture. A special emphasis was placed on predatory
species of carabid beetles, which can control harmful pests on plants with their predatory activity. Research
methods included morphological analyses, molecular biology (PCR
... More diagnostics), and toxicology
(intoxication with active ingredients, HPLC, GC-MS) were used in order to compare the proportions of
different functional groups of carabids depending on the type of agronomic management, the impact of
management on their development, predatory activity, and metabolism, but also to check whether
insecticides spread through soil foodwebs via trophic interactions. By combining the collected data from
Zadar County and data published from the other Mediterranean areas, we proved that management affects
the composition of the community and that unmanaged habitats have a significantly higher proportion of
carnivorous carabid species. Unmanaged habitats also contained a higher proportion of large flightless
species. The method of fluctuating asymmetry, performed on two species, indicated that olive orchards are
less adverse habitats for the development of carabid beetles than vineyards, however, unmanaged habitats
are more suitable compared to both vineyards and olive orchards. Of the two tested species, Pterostichus
melas proved to be more suitable species for fluctuating assymetry as a sign of negative enviromental impact
on populations, given that it showed statistically significant differences in the level of fluctuating asymmetry
between populations, while in the species Poecilus koyi there were no differences between populations.
Furthermore, acute poisoning with thiamethoxam, an insecticide from the group of neonicotinoids, caused a
series of sub-lethal effects in carabids. Individuals exposed to higher concentrations consumed significantly
less food and exhibited obvious locomotory impairments, such as slow, irregular gait, intense cleaning of
antenae, and inability to return to their feet when turned over on their backs. Furthermore, changes in the
concentration of individual metabolites in the treated individuals indicate that following the intoxication,
oxidative stress occurred in the tissues of the carabids. However, measurement of the activity of superoxide
dismutase, an enzyme involved in the defense against oxidative stress, did not show any significant
differences between the groups depending on the concentration. In this research, for the first time, the transfer
of insecticides from the soil to selected prey (earthworm), and then from the prey to predatory species through
feeding, was demonstrated in the laboratory. Using molecular methods, we confirmed that carabids from the
research sites feed on earthworms. This research confirmed that: (i) unmanaged, stable habitats favor a higher
proportion of predatory species and their normal development; (ii) insecticides can enter carabid beetle's
tissue indirectly, by feeding on the contaminated prey; (iii) higher concentrations of the insecticide
thiamethoxam cause disturbances in the feeding, movement, and metabolism of carabids, disrupting their
predatory activity and thus reducing ecosystem services that might be provided by carabids, which in
agricultural ecosystems contributes to the biocontrol of plant pests. These results may help to develop more
sustainable management practices that support the community of predators and reduce the loss of biodiversity
in the Mediterranean region. Less Abstract (croatian) U sklopu disertacije provedena su istraživanja utjecaja različitih tipova gospodarenja koja se provode
u mediteranskim maslinicima i vinogradima na zajednicu, populacije i jedinke trčaka (Insecta,
Coleoptera, Carabidae). Većina istraživanja bila je usmjerena na grabežljive vrste trčaka koje svojom
ishranom suzbijaju nametnike na biljkama i time doprinose održivosti poljoprivrednih ekosustava. U
istraživanju su korištene metode koje se primjenjuju u morfološkim istraživanjima,
... More molekularnoj
biologiji (PCR dijagnstika) i toksikologiji (izlaganje aktivnim tvarima, HPLC, GC-MS) kako bi
usporedili udjele različitih funkcionalnih grupa trčaka ovisno o načinu poljoprivrednog gospodarenja
i utjecaju gospodarenja na njihov razvoj, ishranu i metabolizam, ali i kako bi provjerili šire li se
insekticidi ishranom kroz različite trofičke interakcije unutar hranidbenih mreža tla. Analizom
objavljenih podataka vezanih za mediteransko područje i onih prikupljenih na terenu na području
Zadarske županije dokazali smo da gospodarenje utječe na sastav zajednice te da negospodarena
staništa imaju značajno viši udio mesojednih vrsta trčaka. Negospodarena staništa su također
sadržavala viši udio velikih vrsta koje ne lete i vezana su uglavno za stabilnije stanišne uvjete.
Vrijednosti fluktuacijske asimetrije izmjerene na populacijama dviju vrsta ukazale su da su maslinici
povoljniji za razvoj trčaka od vinograda, dok su negospodarena staništa bila povoljnija u odnosu na
maslinike i vinograde. Od dvije testirane vrste, Pterostichus melas se pokazao prikladnijom vrstom za
analizu fluktuacijske asimetrije kao pokazatelja promjena u okolišu koje negativno utječu na
populacije, s obzirom da su se u toj vrsti iskazale statistički značajne razlike u razini fluktuacijske
asimetrije između populacija, dok kod vrste Poecilus koyi razlika među populacijama nije bilo. Nadalje,
akutno trovanje tiametoksanom, insekticidom iz skupine neonikotinoida, izazvalo je niz subletalnih
reakcija kod jedinki trčaka. Jedinke izložene višim koncentracijama konzumirale su značajno manje
količine hrane, a motorika im je bila poremećena. Nadalje, promjene u koncentraciji pojedinih
metabolita u tretiranih jedinki ukazuju da je slijedom trovanja došlo do oksidativnog stresa u tkivu
trčaka. Međutim, mjerenjem aktivnosti superoksid dismutaze, enzima koji sudjeluje u obrani od
oksidativnog stresa, nisu dobiveneznačajne razlike između grupa ovisno o koncentraciji. U ovom
istraživanju prvi put je laboratorijski dokazan prijenos insekticida iz supstrata (tlo) na odabrani plijen
(gujavice), te potom s plijena na grabežljive trčke putem ishrane. Molekularnim metodama smo
potvrdili da se trčci s istraživanih ploha hrane gujavicama. Ovim istraživanjem je potvrđeno da: (i)
staništa na kojima se ne gospodari pogoduju grabežljivim vrstama i njihovom normalnom razvoju i
predstavljaju stabilniji okoliš za istraživanu skupinu na što ukazuje veća brojnost vrsta koje ne lete; (ii)
insekticidi u tkivo tračaka mogu doći i neizravnim doticajem s aktivnim tvarima hraneći se
kontaminiranim plijenom; (iii) više koncentracije insekticida thiametoksama izazivaju poremećaje u
hranjenju, kretanju i metabolizmu trčaka, što narušava njihovu grabežljivu aktivnost koja u
poljoprivrednim ekosustavima doprinosi biološkoj zaštiti. Ovi rezultati pridonose razvoju načina
gospodarenja koji podržavaju zajednicu grabežljivih trčaka, te time smanjiti gubitak bioraznolikosti u
mediteranskoj regiji. Less Keywords
Agroesystems
biological control
carabid beetles
fluctuating assymetry
functional groups
insecticides
olive orchards
vineyards
Keywords (croatian)
Biološka zaštita
carabidae
fluktuacijska asimetrija
funkcionalne grupe
maslinici
insekticidi
poljoprivredni ekosustavi
vinogradi.
Language english URN:NBN urn:nbn:hr:217:138963 Promotion 2023 Study programme Title: Biology Type of resource Text File origin Born digital Access conditions Open access Terms of use Created on 2023-01-04 11:39:07
