SEED BURIAL BY SOIL BURROWING BEETLES

This investigation shows the role of soil-digging beetles (Carabidae, Heteroceridae) in burial of myxospermous seeds. Field experiments with containers filled with sterilized sand, seeds of different plant species and soil digging beetles, are used. After six months in plots with digging insects seeds were found in deeper soil depths (up to 10 cm soil depth) than seeds in control plots. The study was done with beetles belonging to newly created sandy land. The study shows that beetles can be important for seed dispersal and seed burial and that seeds deep in the soil do not need to be old.