Abstract: [Objective] The broad-leaved Korean pine forests were typical zonal forest community in eastern forest areas in northeast China, with high biological diversity. In this paper, we systematically investigated species composition and diversity of ground-dwelling beetles in the different stands of broad-leaved Korean pine forests, and revealed the influence of stand types and stand factors on diversity of ground-dwelling beetles, in order to evaluate the role of natural forests in the protection of ground-dwelling beetles, and provide a scientific basis for the formulation of forest management plans based on the protection and utilization of the ground-dwelling beetles.[Method] In the active period of ground-dwelling beetles during 2012 and 2013, the beetles were traped by using pitfall traps at four stands in Jiaohe district, Jilin Province. The influences of stand types and stand factors, including canopy density, stand age, litter thickness, herb coverage, stems per hectare, and shrub coverage, on the diversity of the beetles were analyzed.[Result] Totally 9 849 specimens of ground-dwelling beetles were catched and they belong to 79 species of 22 families. The dominant groups included Carabidae, Silphidae and Staphylinidae, in which Pterostichus acutiden (Coleoptera:Carabidae) was the most dominant species. Species compositions of the ground-dwelling beetles were different in different stands. Their diversity was higher in the broad-leaved Korean pine forests (A and B) than the poplar-birch forest and the ash-walnut forest. It was showed that there was a significant negative correlation between individual and evenness of ground-dwelling beetles, and the similarity coefficient was highest between broad-leaved Korean pine forest A and broad-leaved Korean pine forest B. The individual number of Carabidae, Silphidae, Staphylinidae was significantly different in different stands. It was significantly greater in the broad-leaved Korean pine forest (A and B) in than the poplar-birch forest and ash-walnut forest. Carabidae had slightly higher adaptive capacity to the poplar-birch forest than Silphidae and Staphylinidae, and there was a strong correlation in the individual number between Carabidae and Staphylinidae in different stands, with the linear model Y=89.68+3.241x.[Conclusion] The composition and structure of the stand directly affected the internal ecological environment and related factors. The different stand factors had different effects on each group of ground-dwelling beetles. Canopy density, stand age, litter depth had a strong positive influence on the individual number of Silphidae, herb coverage, stems per hectare, shrub coverage had a small influence on the individual number of Carabidae, and the stand factors had a weak influence on the individual number of Staphylinidae. In this study, the stand structure and age were different with less human disturbance, thus a stable internal ecological environment was formed in the process of long-term growth, and the environment influenced survival and reproduction of ground-dwelling beetles as well. The composition of the broad-leaved Korean pine forest (A and B) was complex, and the internal ecological environment was favorable for the survival of ground-dwelling beetles with relative abundant rare species. Therefore it played a more important role in protecting the diversity of ground-dwelling beetle.

Key words: ground-dwelling beetles, diversity, broad-leaved Korean pine forest, stands, stand facors