A biodiverzitás monitorozása homoki élőhelyeken a Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság területén = Monitoring of sand steppe species and habitats in the administrative area of the Duna-Ipoly National Park Directorate

A quarter of Hungary’s calcareous sand vegetation is in the administrative area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate. Therefore, monitoring sandy habitats and species is important. Monitoring is done mainly by the nationally coordinated Hungarian National Biodiversity Monitoring System (HNBMS). Estimating the population size of plant and animal species monitored by the HNBMS in the administrative area of the national park directorate. Our results show that the number of Bulbocodium versicolor, Colchicum arenarium, Dianthus diutinus, Ephedra distachya and Iris arenaria are 2 700, 200 000, 13 500, 70 000 and 70 000 individuals, respectively. Monitoring results of European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) support the hypothesis that areas with short grass can hold more dense populations. However, such areas are found on airfields, which are intensively mown or grazed. The densest population among the studied areas was at Dunakeszi airfield. The most extensive populations of the European Ground Squirrel live in the region of Táborfalva military training area, and in the region of Ürbő. The monitoring of Carabus hungaricus showed that the choice of habitat it prefers exclusively open habitat types. Within the steppic vegetation, this beetle is associated with the more dense tall grass type of vegetation. In practice it means that the habitat of Carabus hungaricus would be turned by natural succession into a scrubby or a wooded habitat type. Succession can be managed by grazing, but the management of the grasslands can easily lead to a change in the habitat into a less dense short grass type, which is insufficient for the beetle. Our own experience is that if grass cover is low, the predation pressure rises, which can be seen in the high number of injured beetles. Optimising grazing is crucial for the survival of Carabus hungaricus in an area. Vegetation mapping near Nagykőrös showed that the steppic oak vegetation native to this area is fragmented. Habitat fragments are islands of native vegetation surrounded by plantations of non-native and invasive trees. These plantations are the main spreading hotspots of herbaceous and arboreal invasive plants. Data gathered with monitoring is used primary in the daily work, planning and consulting of, for example, forest managers, environmental officers and land managers, but data is also used to help scientific research. To preserve threatened, endemic species, appropriate treatment of the habitats are needed. The funding of European Union nature conservation budgets helps us to manage areas and treat species to preserve a good nature conservation status

Adatok a Baláta-tói természetvédelmi terület futóbogárfaunájához (Coleoptera: Carabidae) = Carabidae Data on the Baláta-to Nature Protection Area in Hungary

In the following paper data is given about 45 speci- es of ground beetles collected - mostly - with pit-fall traps in the Hungarian Baláta-Lake Nature Reserve Area, in three plant associations (Quercetum; Alnetum; Salicetum). The highest diversity of ground beetles was measured in the Salicetum plant association, and the lowest in the Quercetum association, although significant difference could not bee shown between the Salicetum and the Alnetum. Our investigations showed that the wooden habitats have more equal environment conditions than the Salicetum for ground beetles. This could be shown by the higher number of collected specimen and the lower number of species in wooden habitats (K-strategy)

Overlapping generations can balance the fluctuations in the activity patterns of an endangered ground beetle species: long-term monitoring of Carabus hungaricus in Hungary

Abstract. 1. Carabus hungaricus is a ground beetle inhabiting the Pannonian steppes. It is highly endangered by fragmentation and abandonment of its habitat. 2. For five consecutive years, from 2006 to 2010, we used the mark– release-recapture technique in a grid of 270 live-capture pitfall traps to study its population ecology in sandy grasslands on Szentendrei Island in the Northern vicinity of Budapest, Hungary. 3. In total, 3950 individuals of C. hungaricus (1874 females and 2076 males) were marked. 4. Population size was estimated at?2000 individuals per year; the estimates for females were consistently higher than those for males. The minimum popu- lation size was 1317 ± 60.1 individuals in 2007, whereas the maximum was 2169.7 ± 108.8 individuals in 2008. 5. Adults older than a year formed?32–42% of the population, whereas individuals surviving for 3 years formed?10%, and those surviving for 4 years formed?2% of the population. Individuals older than 4 years comprised <1% of the population. Female survival rate was higher than that of male, but the capture rate also differed between sexes. 6. Although the studied population showed considerable fluctuations in the pattern of activity during the 5 years, its size seemed to be relatively stable, underlining the importance of overlapping generations

A magyar futrinka (Carabus hungaricus Fabricius, 1792) elterjedése, természetvédelmi helyzete. (Nature conservation status of Carabus hungaricus in Hungary),

Cikkünkben összesítettük majd térinformatikai módszerekkel feldolgoztuk a magyar futrinka (Carabus hungaricus Fabricius, 1792) általunk fellelhető adatait. Intenzív élvefogó csapdázást végeztünk 47 magyarországi helyszínen. Ezek közül összesen 42 helyen észleltük a magyar futrinka jelenlétét, ebből 17 előfordulás újnak számít. Megállapítottuk, hogy hazánkban a magyar futrinka potenciálisan veszélyeztetett. A faj megőrzése érdekében további Natura 2000 hálózatba tartozó területeket volna célszerű kijelölni. A magyar futrinka legerősebb populációi homokpusztagyepekhez kötődnek, a sziklagyepi populációk jóval kisebb egyedszámúak és sérülékenyek. Tapasztalataink szerint a faj erős, nagy egyedszámú populációiból képesek példányok elvándorolni, és kedvező körülmények esetén ott megtelepedni

Long-term monitoring of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in a Hungarian wetland area

A 10- year study of ground beetles was carried out in the protected area of Kis-Balaton, Western Hungary. Pitfall-traps (15) were placed along a transect and were operating continuously. The traps caught 10,332 individuals, belonging to 127 species. Both the number of species and cumulative number of species increased continuously with no sign of saturation over the 10-year period. The dominant species showed large changes in numbers from year to year. We suggest that fluctuations in abundance, and the year to year changes in the dominant species are caused mainly by the unstable wetland habitat, and only partially by species biology

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT OF CARABUS HUNGARICUS (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) IN SERBIA AND RECOMMENDATION FOR MONITORING

The distribution of Carabus hungaricus in Serbia has not been summarized so far. There are only a few published records of this beetle in Serbia. Due to new findings, it was necessary to update the distribution of this species in Serbia. Recent field research revealed that the largest suitable habitat is the Deliblato Sands in the South Banat District, where this species is common. Other important areas are located near the Romanian border in the vicinity of the city of Vršac and near Mužlja (in the neighborhood of the city of Zrenjanin, Central Banat District), where the northernmost population in Serbia is located. In addition to this overview of distribution, we propose monitoring methodology for C. hungaricus. We believe that regular monitoring can bring the necessary attention to the disappearing steppe habitats and that the results can help to manage them appropriately in the future