Microhabitat Structure Affects Ground-Dwelling Beetle Communities More than Temperature along an Urbanization Gradient

Abstract

Urbanization profoundly alters environmental conditions for organisms, particularly through the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which elevates temperatures in city centers. This study examines the influence of urban environmental variables on rove and ground beetle communities. We sampled 36 grasslands in Rennes (northwestern France), yielding 3317 and 505 staphylinid and carabid adult individuals, respectively, belonging to 121 and 60 species, respectively. Staphylinid and carabid communities are not primarily affected by temperature-related variables. Staphylinids, often overlooked in urban ecology, showed species composition variation to be influenced by habitat and temperature, whereas their functional diversity was positively correlated with herbaceous vegetation height only. In contrast, carabid communities exhibited no significant relationship with the tested environmental variables. This study underscores the taxon-dependent nature of ectotherm’s responses to thermal environments. Although a further investigation into species-specific traits, and particularly dispersal capacities in staphylinids, is needed to advance our understanding of urbanization’s impact, our results indicate that functional diversity in staphylinid assemblages can be favored by locally reducing the mowing frequency or increasing the cutting height within urban green spaces.