The impact of forest cutting on the diversity of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the southern Appalachians

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Abstract
1. Carabid beetles were sampled by means of pitfall traps on several clearcut areas and in adjacent forests.2. A hierarchical analysis of diversity revealed a significant increase in the within‐genus component of species diversity after forest cutting.3. This trend in intrageneric diversity was obscured, with respect to total species diversity, by a nonsignificant reduction in diversity at the generic level.4. The increase in the within‐genus component of species diversity following forest cutting was consistent with the hypothesis that disturbance of a cornmunity can disrupt processes of competitive exclusion.