Biodiversity Data Journal :
Research Article
|
Corresponding author: Véronique Forbes (veroforbes@gmail.com)
Academic editor: David Bilton
Received: 05 Dec 2017 | Accepted: 23 Feb 2018 | Published: 02 Mar 2018
© 2018 Véronique Forbes, Derek Sikes
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Forbes V, Sikes D (2018) A survey of beetles (Coleoptera) from the tundra surrounding the Nunalleq archaeological site, Quinhagak, southwestern Alaska. Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e22788. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e22788
|
|
This paper presents the results of a survey of beetles conducted in the vicinity of the archaeological site of Nunalleq, a pre-contact (16th-17th century AD) indigenous forager settlement located near the modern Yup’ik village of Quinhagak, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, southwestern Alaska. Records and habitat data are reported for 74 beetle taxa collected in tundra, riparian, aquatic and anthropogenic environments from a region of Alaska that has been poorly studied by entomologists. This includes the first mainland Alaskan record for the byrrhid Simplocaria metallica (Sturm). Beyond improving our knowledge of the local beetle fauna’s diversity and ecology, this survey provides the basis for comparisons between modern and sub-fossil beetle assemblages from Nunalleq and Quinhagak.
Coleoptera, Archaeology, Insect subfossils, Alaska, Yup’ik
Until recently, the arthropod fauna of Alaska has been comparatively less well studied than that of other states and provinces of Canada and the USA. In part this is caused by the fact that some regions are particularly difficult to access due to their topography, hydrology or remoteness to urban agglomerations. This is the case of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) delta, a flat, treeless area of south-western Alaska where the tundra environment is dissected by numerous rivers, streams, lakes and ponds and underlain by discontinuous permafrost. Travel by motorised vehicle is impractical over most of the delta’s expanse, making small boats and planes the most reliable transport means within the area. Karl Lindroth and Georges E. Ball are two of the few entomologists known to have visited the region, when, as part of Lindroth’s seminal study of the ground beetles of Canada and Alaska (
From 2013, one of the team (VF) became engaged in a scientific, community and heritage project involving the excavation of Nunalleq, a pre-contact Thule-era (16th-17th century AD) site located on the Bering Coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, approximately 20 km south of the Yup’ik village of Quinhagak. One of the objectives of the project was to reconstruct past climatic conditions and human environment-interactions on the basis of ecological information derived from beetle remains preserved in the archaeology (
Fieldwork was conducted during two consecutive field seasons within a 5 km radius of the Nunalleq archaeological site (
List and description of the different habitats sampled in the vicinity of the Nunalleq archaeological site.
Habitat |
Description |
Sampling techniques |
Open tundra |
Flat tundra with moist to wet ground and low-lying vegetation characterised by herbs (e.g. Eriophorum angustifolium), mosses (e.g. Sphagnum sp., Polytrichium sp.), lichen, heaths and dwarf shrubs (e.g. Ledum palustre, Rubus chamaemorus, Empetrum nigrum, Betula nana). |
Pitfall and interception traps, hand collection, sifting/mini-Winkler |
Scrub tundra |
Flat tundra with moist to dry ground and vegetation dominated by dwarf willow (Salix sp.) scrub heaths and shrub (e.g. Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium vitis-idea, Betula nana, Rubus chamaemorus). |
Pitfall traps, beating vegetation |
Aquatic |
Small ponds of stagnant water with Sphagnum mosses and Eriophorum angustifolium at the water edge. |
Dipping net and hand collection |
Seashore |
Beach with sandy and clayey soil, some areas with sparse vegetation (e.g. Honckenya peploides, Senecio pseudoarnica, Mertensia maritima, Leymus arenarius). |
Pitfall traps, hand collection |
Disturbed/anthropogenic |
Habitats created through disturbance by human activity including spoil heaps, trampled areas and excavation trench of the Nunalleq archaeological site. Vegetation cover is typically sparse and characterised by, but not limited to, species such as Achillea millefolium, Matricaria matricarioides, Rumex graminifolius and Rorippa islandica. This category also includes the interior of modern buildings in Quinhagak. |
Pitfall traps, hand collection |
Riparian |
Gravelly bank of the Arolik river, with willow (Salix) trees a few metres away from the water. |
Beating vegetation, dipping net |
Photographs of some of the traps and sampling devices employed.
Identifications of the beetle taxa were achieved through anatomical comparisons with specimens from the University of Alaska Museum Insect Collection (UAM) in Fairbanks, the Canadian Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes in Ottawa (CNC) and the Laurentian Forestry Centre’s René-Martineau Insectarium in Quebec City (LFC). For some specimens, such as those belonging to the Staphylinidae subfamilies Aleocharinae, Omaliinae and Staphyliniinae, as well as the Pterostichus subgenus Cryobius Chaudoir, this was facilitated by microdissections to allow observation of the genitalia. Identifications were aided by consultation of identification keys and descriptions in entomology publications (
Information regarding the ecology of individual taxa was compiled from habitat records and descriptions in the literature (
Vouchers specimens were donated to UAM, CNC and LFC and the remaining specimens are currently in the care of the first author. Data for specimens that were donated to UAM (accession: UAM-2014.20-Forbes-Ento) can be accessed through the Arctos database using the following link http://arctos.database.museum/saved/QuinhagakColeoptera. The full dataset is archived online and can be accessed at: doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5630296.v1.
This survey recovered a total of 500 beetle specimens belonging to 74 different taxa and spanning 15 families (Suppl. material
Thirty-four of the identified taxa may be first records for the Y-K delta region. Many of these were collected in regions adjacent to the Y-K delta (e.g. the Seward, Alaska and Kenai peninsulas as well as central Alaska). This applies to Notiophilus borealis Harris, Elaphrus lapponicus Gyllenhal, Hydroporus lapponum Gyllenhal, H. morio Aubé, H. striola (Gyllenhal), Acidota quadrata (Zetterstedt) and Eucnecosum cf. tenue LeConte). They have probably been established in the Y-K delta for a long time, but perhaps were never collected before simply due to geographical sampling bias.
This survey also produced several records of Amara alpina (Paykull). This species is generally considered an indicator of cold climates in palaeo-entomological studies (
Three dytiscid specimens were identified as Ilybius angustior (Gyllenhal) complex. These appear to be closely related to the species I. angustior, a Holarctic species occuring in still water with abundant vegetation (
Each identified taxon has been classified into an ecological group (Fig.
Taxa that are typical of mesic to wet tundra habitats and which occur on both sides of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, are the most represented in this survey (Fig.
Many of the taxa included in the ‘Xeric’ and ‘Mesic’ groups are typical of tundra environments, but appear to exploit niches provided by decomposing organic matter, for example rotting wood, leaf litter and flood debris (Fig.
VF would like to thank Qanirtuuq inc. for hospitality in Quinhagak, logistical support and for authorising this survey on their land, as well as Paul Ledger, Roy Mark and Rick Knecht for assistance during fieldwork. Patrice Bouchard, Yves Bousquet, Anthony Davies, Hume Douglas, Jan Klimaszewski, Dave Larson, George Pelletier, Karine Savard, Aleš Smetana and Margaret K. Thayer provided invaluable help with identifications and Caroline Bourdon helped with microdissections.
This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703322. Fieldwork was funded through a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom (To R. Knecht, K. Britton & Charlotta Hillerdal, University of Aberdeen, AH/K006029/1).
List of beetle taxa identified at Nunalleq, with a summary of their habitats/ecology. Ticked (✓) boxes indicate habitat records collected as part of this survey, those marked with an ‘x’ represent habitat records identified from the literature.
Ecology and habitat abbreviations: BG = bare ground; BP = bogs, peaty soils/wet meadows; CA = carrion; CG = coastal grassland; DS = disturbed/synanthropic habitats; DT = dry tundra/heath; DU = dung; DV = decaying vegetal matter; F = fungi; H = hygrophilous; MO = moss; MT = mesic tundra; NB = nests and burrows; O = open ground; R= riparian; SB= seashore, beach; SW= standing water; TV = thin/sparse vegetation; WB = wood/bark; WL = forest, woodland, scrubs; WT = wet tundra; X = xeric habitats.
The ‘ID’ column designates the determiner for each taxa (PB = Patrice Bouchard; YB = Yves Bousquet; AD = Anthony Davies; HD = Hume Douglas; VF = Véronique Forbes; JK = Jan Klimaszewski; DL = Dave Larson; DS = Derek Sikes; AS = Aleš Smetana; MKT = Margaret K. Thayer).
The ‘DIS’ column details each taxon’s global distribution (Ho = Holarctic; Ne = Nearctic; Ad = adventive to North America).