Response of beetle communities and functional groups to changes in structural and compositional biodiversity of cork oak forest and agricultural landscapes in the northwest of Morocco

The geographical location of Morocco provides an exceptionally biodiverse environment. This study aims to fill knowledge gaps regarding the biodiversity of beetles in the northwest of Morocco. We explored cork oak forests Quercus suber L. in Larache and the Gharb plain over two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) and performed an inventory of beetles. We captured and identified 5,405 specimens belonging to 246 species and 39 families. Three trends were evident in this study: 1) the most diverse family was Tenebrionidae, a family with a distinct affinity to Mediterranean climates; 2) we found few sapro-xylophagous, xylophagous, and coprophagous beetles in the study; and 3) our findings indicate that the Larache cork oak forest plays a vital ecological role in the area as beetle biodiversity and functional groups were much higher in the forested sectors than in nearby agricultural areas.