Boundary dynamics and matrix effects on beetle community composition and movement between forests and agriculture

Insect movement across habitat edges between forest and agriculture has the potential to affect ecosystem processes. In this study, I quantified aerial beetle communities in Ohio along transect lines crossing forest edges and stretching into corn and forest habitats. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of forest patch size, distance to the forest edge and agricultural matrix effects on beetle community dynamics. Beetle abundance and species richness were significantly higher at the edge throughout season. Net difference in abundance showed that in large fragments, individuals moved toward forest interior whereas beetles in small fragments flux towards corn. This suggests that large forest fragment edge were "hard" compared to small forest fragments. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling showed log patch area and tree importance value were the two most importance variables in determining species composition. Spillover of insects across boundaries has various implications for biodiversity research in land management.