Bachvarova D.1, Doychinov A.1, Deltchev Ch.2, Stoev P.2 2015. Habitat distribution of myriapods (Chilopoda, Diplopoda) in the town of Shumen and the Shumen Plateau (NE Bulgaria) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.24. No.2: 169–184 [in English].
1 Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, 115, Universitetska Str., 9700 Shumen, Bulgaria.
2 National Museum of Natural History, 1, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
KEY WORDS: millipedes, centipedes, urban, rural, communities, Shumen, Shumen Plateau, NE Bulgaria.
ABSTRACT. The present paper provides the first comparative analysis of the community composition and habitat distribution of myriapods (Chilopoda, Diplopoda) in the urban, suburban and rural habitats of the town of Shumen and Shumen Plateau. For both studied classes, Chilopoda and Diplopoda, the green areas of the city center are the species poorest, with Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha being apparently most influenced by the anthropogenic pressure. The highest species diversity has been established in the suburban area with a total of 37 species — 20 centipedes and 17 millipedes, which accounts for 64% of the 58 species known in the region. According to the index of persistence (invariably) of Tischler the degree of attachment of centipedes to a particular habitat is less than that of millipedes, which are trophicaly dependent on surrounding vegetation. The highest degree of similarity in myriapod communities in the studied habitats is reported between Park Kyoshkovete and reserve Bukaka where the Czekanowski-Dice-Sцrensen (Qs) index is 0.83 for centipede and 0.81 for millipede communities. No alien species have so far been found in the fauna of Shumen, which is unusual given the size of the city, its long history, established trade relations with other regions since antiquity and the active transportation of products from and to different parts of the world.