Diversity of Beetles on Scots Pine in the Záhorská Lowland (Southwestern Slovakia)

The subject of the study was the beetle communities associated with Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) in the southwestern part of Slovakia. This region contains the largest pine forests on eolic sands in Central Europe. Different methods were used for data collection, depending on the age of the stands, management practices, and the ecology of individual species. The beetle communities were mapped over a period of more than 20 years (2003–2025). In the Záhorie Lowland region, the presence of up to 377 beetle species associated with Scots pine was documented. As many as 62 species are included in the Red List of saproxylic beetles in Europe, and 27 species are considered primeval relicts, indicating the preservation of forests. According to the analyses, the highest beetle community diversity (up to 335 species) was found in forests over 160 years of age, which had been in a no-intervention regime for a long time (min. 20 years), with ample dead wood in various stages of decay. In protected areas with nature-based management, species diversity was lower than in no-intervention forests, but compared to conventionally managed forests outside protected areas, the species richness was still much higher. In the case of conventionally managed forests outside protected areas, the number of beetle species recorded reached a maximum of 185 species. Rare species associated with coarse dead wood and structured forests were absent.