Waste dumps as local biodiversity hotspots for soil macrofauna and ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the agricultural landscape

Man-made sites are found to often provide biodiversity refuges in anthropogenically impacted landscape and offering valuable analogues of natural habitats. We surveyed surface dwelling soil macrofauna and ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages by pitfall trapping across the eight stands of waste dumps and eight comparative biotopes in Eastern Slovakia. To our knowledge, this is the first such survey. During 18 weeks period in 2011 and 2012, a total of 38.814 individuals were trapped belonging to 17 soil macrofauna orders, 38 Coleopteran families and 98 Carabidae species. We analysed differences in assemblages of waste dumps and comparative biotopes and tested responses of orders, beetles and carabids to selected environmental variables. Assemblages collected from waste dumps had consistently higher diversity than their surrounding habitats, waste dumps equally showed higher proportion of slow-moving sapro-phytophagous orders and large wingless ground beetles colonizing native habitats. Ten rare ground beetles species were only captured from waste dumps. No clearly, unambiguous pattern was observed concerning distinctions in assemblages in relation to selected environmental variables, however, trees and shrub vegetation as well as soil moisture apparently affected community distinctions between studied habitats. We concluded, that reclaimed waste dumps as well as illegal waste dumps under different stages of succession could support surface dwelling soil macrofauna functional and the ground beetle species diversity in the agricultural landscape.