Ground-beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblages in the forest-steppe of the southern Vitim Plateau

A list of species and the structure of ground beetle assemblages in the forest-steppe of Eravninskaya (= Sosnovoozerskaya) Depression situated in the permafrost area are presented. Ground beetle assemblages dwelling in larch, mixed, and small-leaved forests (intact and after fires), and also in the meadow steppe and waterlogged meadows with varying degrees of humidity were studied. The data obtained demonstrate that the communities examined are intermediate between those revealed in adjacent territories of the Selenga River basin, mid-altitude mountains, and of the northern Transbaikalia. The gentle sauce-shaped relief of Eravninskaya Depression is responsible for the concentric circular distribution of carabid assemblages, occasionally interrupted by forest-steppe fragments in isolated forests and meadow steppes. All the hill slopes surrounding the depression are populated by taiga carabid assemblages, whereas the bottom of the depression is the habitat for meadow-steppe and forest-steppe assemblages. © 2008 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.