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Dispersal of individuals of the flightless grassland ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), in three populations and what they tell us about mobility estimates based on mark-recapture

Elek, Zoltán and Drag, Lukas and Pokluda, Pavel and Cizek, Lukas and Bérces, Sándor (2014) Dispersal of individuals of the flightless grassland ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), in three populations and what they tell us about mobility estimates based on mark-recapture. European Journal of Entomology, 111 (5). pp. 1-6. ISSN 1210-5759, ESSN: 1802-8829

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Abstract

Knowledge of the dispersal ability of endangered species is crucial for developing effective, evidence-based conservation policies. Due to their limited dispersal abilities and specific habitat requirements, insects are among the animals most threatened by habitat fragmentation. We studied three populations of the highly endangered species of ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus, at three sites in Central Europe (Hungary and Czech Republic) using mark-release-recapture (MRR). The total catch of 574 pitfall traps set at the three sites was 6255 individuals. Depending on the site, the percentage recaptured was 13–32%. average and maximum distance moved by individuals of both sexes at each of the sites ranged between 47–132 and 207–1104 m, respectively. The probability of the movements following an inverse power function (IPF) for the two sexes did not differ, but did differ among sites. Probability of dispers- ing for distances >100 m differed by an order of magnitude between sites, most likely because of differences in how the samples were collected. Despite the fact that individual beetles are able to move over distances in the order of kilometres, the high fragmentation of their habitats is likely to prevent them from colonizing most uninhabited habitat patches. Therefore, the conservation of this threatened ground beetle could be improved by adopting and implementing a policy of assisted dispersal. Our results from three study sites also provide an interesting illustration of the variability in the estimates of the probability of dispersal obtained using MRR.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The study and its authors were supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ZE), Bolyai Research grant (ZE, grant no.: BO/00045/11/8).
Uncontrolled Keywords: ability of endangered species,abstract,animals most threatened by,at three,carabidae,carabus hungaricus,coleoptera,czech republic,dispersal,dispersal abilities and specific,due to their limited,effective,evidence-based conservation,habitat fragmentation,habitat requirements,hungary,insects are among the,inverse power function,is crucial for developing,knowledge of the dispersal,natura 2000,of the highly endangered,policies,species of ground beetle,we studied three populations
Subjects: Q Science / természettudomány > QH Natural history / természetrajz > QH540 Ecology / ökológia
Depositing User: Dr. Zoltán Elek
Date Deposited: 24 Sep 2014 09:22
Last Modified: 24 Sep 2014 09:22
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/16321

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