SPECIES DIVERSITY OF INVERTEBRATES (INVERTEBRATA) ON THE ROUTES OF STUDENT ZOOLOGY PRACTICE IN THE WESTERN CHORNOHORA (THE UKRAINIAN CARPATHIANS)

Abstract

Since the second half of the 19th century invertebrate fauna of the Carpathians has been studied in detail by numerous scientists. The western branches of the Chornohora massif of the Ukrainian Carpathians has been attractive for the researchers of different groups of invertebrates. However, there is no possibility to evaluate their diversity dynamics in this area due to the lack of generalized comparative long-term data. With regard to that and considering the advantageous localization of the high-mountain biological station of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv as a convenient place for such investigation, the aim of our study was to describe the species diversity of invertebrates in the Western Chornohora for the initiation of stationary research of its dynamics. The material was collected by students according to the standard zoological methods during their field practice trips in July 2015–2019 on seven radial routes in various coenotic conditions and on different sites of the Western Chornohora. 149 species of invertebrate animals from 9 classes were identified in total. Insects considerably predominate among them by the species composition (about 80 %). The most common species of the 14 registered orders of Insecta represent Coleoptera (about 40 %), Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera (15 % each). Some of the invertebrate species were found on several different routes. For example, Gastrophysa viridula, Carabus auronitens, C. glabratus, Geotrupes stercorarius, Silpha carinata, Gordius aquaticus were sampled on three of them. The “Keveliv” route possesses the highest species richness of invertebrates (45 species) being almost twice higher than the average one (26 species), whereas the “Sheshul” route has the lowest richness (17 invertebrate species). The study revealed seven species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (Apatura iris, Aromia moschata, Chrysolina carpatica, Cordulegaster bidentata, Emus hirtus, Papilio machaon, Parnassius mnemosyne), and three ones listed in the Red Data Book of the Ukrainian Carpathians (Bombus wurflenii, Carabus transsylvanicus, Pieris bryoniae). The presented findings can be used for the following analysis of invertebrate species diversity changes depending on habitats transformation with the consequent development of efficient biodiversity conservation measures in the Western Chornohora.