Table 2 Comparison of the results of analytical and funistic studies of the
species diversity of the entomofauna forest lands of the agrolandscapes
Living form
Quantitative
variety
diversity of
entomofauna
according to
analytical
research
% of total
Quantitative
variety
diversity of
entomofauna
according to
analytical
research
% of total
Depletion
level,
%
Geobionts
107
6.7
59
7.6
44.9
Herpebionts
470
29.3
134
17.2
71.5
Hortobionts
173
10.8
107
13.7
38.2
Dendrobionts
854
53.2
480
61.5
43.8
Total:
1604
100
780
100
*М=49.6
*Note: М – average value
Species abundance of the entomofauna of herptobionts reached 470 species. The
field studies performed by us indicate a significant decrease in the proportion of the
group (from 29.3 to 17.2 % of the total entomofauna) and the catastrophic depletion of
the species diversity of herpotobionts – by 71.5 %.
By reducing the diversity of geophils, the proportion of phytophiles has increased
at present, from 10.8 to 13.7 % in hortobionts, and from dairies to 53.2 to 61.5 %. But
the species abundance of life forms decreased by 38.2 % in hortobionts and 43.8 % in
dendrobions.
On average, the indicator of the species biodiversity of agricultural landscapes in
Ukraine, according to our estimates, has declined by 49.6%. Reducing biodiversity to
a greater extent was due to geophylic insects (geobionts and herpotobionts), which
reflects the significant ecological disturbances of the forest-steppe pedospheres. Thus,
degradation of soil cover and depletion of agrobiodiversity are interrelated.
The results of our research do not allow to unambiguously assert that species that
have not been found during long-term faunal studies have disappeared. But they show
that 50 % of insects of agro-landscapes, which in the past had the status of dominant
and constant, as a result of the adverse environmental factors, became small, which is
the first step towards their actual disappearance. Analyzing the entomofauna state of
the agrolandscapes of the forest-steppe zone of Ukraine, we can observe a tendency to
decrease the number of insect rows that populate this zone. Insects of the vital form of
dendrobionts, on the contrary, show an increase in the number of their rows, compared
with the list of known species. This may be due to migrations of insects from the south
to the north as a result of climate change, or the forest-steppe area for the species riches
of the entomofauna was investigated sufficiently earlier. According to other forms of
life there is a tendency to decrease the number of species in comparison with literary
data.
- 1353 -