Ecological and Geographical Analysis of Ground Beetles of Intrazonal Biotopes of the Southeastern Pre-caucasus

 In the steppe zone of the Southeastern Pre-Caucasus, mainly on light chestnut soils, salt marshes are widespread. They are inhabited by a very characteristic and peculiar fauna of ground beetles, associated in their development with saline soils. However, to date, there are very few special scientific studies devoted to ground beetles of saline biotopes of the studied territory of the Eastern Caucasus, the study of their ecology and biology, which determined the purpose of research aimed at solving the above problems. Registration of the population composition of halophilic herpetobiont ground beetles, population dynamics, ecological structure and geographical analysis were studied. In the course of the study, an analysis of the ecological and zoogeographic characteristics of ground beetles was carried out, the ratio of different species of ground beetles of the Southeastern Caucasus was revealed. It has been specified that some species can serve as an indicator of the presence of salt marshes. Halophilic complexes of ground beetles of the steppe zone (the studied region) are currently under constant threat of human destruction. The floodplains in the lower reaches of the Kuma, the Sulak and other steppe rivers are actively exterminated, which naturally leads to the depletion of the salt marsh fauna of ground beetles, the original representatives of halophytic stations disappear – Scarites angustus Chaud., Clivina laevifrons Chaud., Dyschirius pusillus Dej., Bembidion quadriplagiatum Motsch., B. normannum Dej., Pogonus reticulatus Schaum., P. cumanus Lutschn and other.

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