Effects of Forestry Practices on Carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) – Implication for Nature Management

Effects of forestry management were studied in the Szatmár-Bereg Landscape Protection Area (NE-Hungary). Carabid assemblages of forest stands managed by different management techniques (stand put under acorn after clearing the herbaceous and shrub layer, the other prepared for seedlings by grubbing and deep loosening) have been compared with that of a non-managed control stand using pitfall traps. The number of carabid individuals and species has been found to be the highest in the non-managed stand, followed by that of the stand which was put under acorn after clearing the herbaceous and shrub layer. The fewest individuals and species were observed in the stand managed by grubbing and deep loosening. There was no significant difference between the species richness of the control stand and the stand managed by clearing the herbs and shrubs and put under acorn, while both values were found to be significantly higher than that of the stand managed by grubbing and loosening. The composition of the carabid assemblage of the non-managed stand and that of the stand cleared and put under acorn were similar to each other, while the carabid assemblage of the stand managed by grubbing and deep loosening was considerably different from the assemblages of the two above stands. The results suggest that the grubbing and deep loosening management practice completely changes the structure and composition of the carabid assemblage, thus it is not recommended to use in protected areas. Clearing the herbaceous and shrub layer followed by putting under acorn, does not substantially change the structure and composition of the carabid assemblage, so it can be used on protected areas for forestry management

Forests of the Bereg-plain as refuges based on their carabid fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Carabid fauna of 16 sampling sites located in the Bereg-plain and in the Carpathians were studied using pitfall samples. During the two-year-study we trapped 5849 individuals of 51 carabid species. We determined the occurrence of Carabus glabratus, Abax schueppeli and Leistus piceus in the Bereg-plain. We demonstrated additional localities of Carabus arcensis carpathus, Carabus intricatus, Carabus hampei and Cychrus caraboides. Considering the above results as well as our earlier data, we showed that the studied sampling sites can be classified into four groups based on their carabid fauna by cluster analysis: (1) forest stands of the Carpathians, (2) island-like hills of the Bereg-plain, (3) lowland forests maintaining several carabid species characteristic of hills and mountains, and (4) lowland forests containing mainly widely distributed and lowland species. We pointed out that the carabid fauna of the forests of the Bereg-plain is related to the fauna of the Carpathians, in addition, that the Bereg-plain can be regarded as the fluctuation zone of the forest-inhabiting mountainous carabid species. Based on our results it is proved that some forests of the Bereg-plain can be regarded as refuges and potential dispersal centres for the forest-inhabiting mountainous carabid species