Konjev Desender

Long term dynamics of carabid beetles in Belgium: a preliminary analysis on the influence of changing climate and land use by means of a database covering more than a century

This contribution is a first attempt to analyze the long term dynamics of some selected carabid genera in Belgium. A method is developed which corrects the data for differential sampling intensities per period of time and which analyzes the corrected time trend patterns. The results on species level are then compared with trends of climatic as well as land use changes in a first attempt to unravel the relative importance of both types of phenomena in the long term dynamics of beetles in Belgium. We conclude that especially during recent decades a few common species have become relatively more common at the expense of a larger number of rare species which became even more rare. This change of the carabid fauna can be interpreted as resulting from the loss of natural and semi-natural open habitats, especially since 1950, and from the intensification of agriculture.

Carabid beetles and nature conservation research in Belgium: a review

Research on carabids within the framework of nature conservation has only developed relatively recently in Belgium. Much of the fundamental work has now been done: distribution maps, habitat requirements of most species and an analysis of the causes for the reduction of the carabid fauna during recent decades. More recent developments were landscape ecological investigations and the use of carbid beetles as ecological indicators in site assessment studies. Research would be needed to: 1. evaluate the effects of management practices on carabid populations; 2. better understand the population dynamics and genetics of rare and threatened species; and 3. elaborate red lists for this group of animals.