Carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) in the urban forests of Biysk

The paper describes the studies conducted in the two isolated coniferous forests of the city of Biysk exposed to anthropogenic impact of different degree. The authors revealed 15 species of two Silphidae subfamilies and marked the difference in species domination depending on the anthropogenic pressure. Silpha carinata, S. obscura are dominant in the suburban forest, whereas Oiceoptoma thoracicum, Nicrophorus vespillo, N. vespilloides are the dominants of the industrial area. Generally, the territories under study showed high faunal similarity. The researchers found the representatives of all three biotopical groups (forest, forest-meadow and eurytopic) in Biysk industrial zone, while Amuro-Orlovskiy forest contained only forest and eurytopic species. The authors compared Silphidae fauna of the habitats under study in each forest area and discovered that the differences are more expressed in the forest area of the industrial zone which may be explained by the intense fragmentation of habitats.