PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Southern Afrotemperate Forest is concentrated in the southern Cape region of South Africa and whilst it is relatively well known botanically, the fauna, specifically the aquatic invertebrate fauna, is poorly documented. The majority of remaining intact forest habitat is contained within the Garden Route National Park (GRNP), which straddles the provincial boundary between the Western and Eastern Cape. This study undertakes a survey of the water beetle fauna inhabiting the GRNP. The aquatic ecosystems within temperate forests of the region are poorly researched from an ecological and biodiversity perspective, despite being known to harbour endemic invertebrate elements. We collected water beetles and in situ physico-chemical data from a total of 31 waterbodies across the park over two seasons (summer and late winter) in 2017. The waterbodies sampled were mostly small freshwater perennial streams and isolated forest ponds. A total of 61 beetle taxa was recorded (29 Adephaga, 32 Polyphaga) from these waterbodies. The water beetle fauna of these forests appears to be diverse and contains many species endemic to the fynbos-dominated Cape Floristic Region, but very few of the species appear to be forest specialists. This is in contrast to the fynbos heathland habitat of the region, which harbours a high number of water beetle species endemic to this habitat, often with Gondwanan affinity. Our study is the first to document the water beetles of Afrotemperate Forests in the southern Cape region and provides an important baseline for future work on such habitats in the region and in other parts of southern Africa.
摘要：
南非洲温带森林集中在南非的南开普省地区，虽然它在植物学上相对知名，动物,特别是水生无脊椎动物，记录不佳。其余大部分完整的森林栖息地都包含在花园路线国家公园（GRNP）内，跨越西部和东部开普省之间的边界。这项研究对居住在GRNP中的水甲虫动物进行了调查。从生态和生物多样性的角度来看，该地区温带森林内的水生生态系统研究甚少。尽管已知有特有的无脊椎动物元素。我们在2017年的两个季节（夏季和冬季末）从公园的31个水体中收集了水甲虫和原位物理化学数据。采样的水体主要是小型淡水多年生溪流和孤立的森林池塘。总共记录了61个甲虫类群(29个阿德法加，32Polyphaga）来自这些水体。这些森林的水甲虫动物区系似乎多种多样，并且包含许多以fynbos为主的开普植物区特有的物种，但是很少有物种是森林专家。这与该地区的fynbos荒地栖息地形成对比，该栖息地特有的大量水甲虫物种，经常有冈瓦南的亲和力。我们的研究是第一个记录南开普省非洲温带森林水甲虫的研究，并为该地区和南部非洲其他地区的此类栖息地的未来工作提供了重要的基线。
