Coleoptera Associated with Decaying Wood in a Tropical Deciduous Forest.

Coleoptera is the largest and diverse group of organisms, but few studies are dedicated to determine the diversity and feeding guilds of saproxylic Coleoptera. We demonstrate the diversity, abundance, feeding guilds, and succession process of Coleoptera associated with decaying wood in a tropical deciduous forest in the Mixteca Poblana, Mexico. Decaying wood was sampled and classified into four stages of decay, and the associated Coleoptera. The wood was identified according to their anatomy. Diversity was estimated using the Simpson index, while abundance was estimated using a Kruskal-Wallis test; the association of Coleoptera with wood species and decay was assessed using canonical correspondence analysis. Decay wood stage I is the most abundant (51%), followed by stage III (21%). We collected 93 Coleoptera belonging to 14 families, 41 genera, and 44 species. The family Cerambycidae was the most abundant, with 29% of individuals, followed by Tenebrionidae with 27% and Carabidae with 13%. We recognized six feeding guilds. The greatest diversity of Coleoptera was recorded in decaying Acacia farnesiana and Bursera linanoe. Kruskal-Wallis analysis indicated that the abundance of Coleoptera varied according to the species and stage of decay of the wood. The canonical analysis showed that the species and stage of decay of wood determined the composition and community structure of Coleoptera.