Modelling of habitat rearrangement of Carabid beetles

Summary

Computer simulations were used to investigate the habitat rearrangement of three carabid species. The degree of rearrangements were estimated by calibration curves constructed using simulated rearrangement of populations distributed in random, regular and aggregated fashions.

The simulation data were analyzed with Principal Component Analyses which were not sensitive to the low and sometimes to the high rearrangements, mainly if the density was small. The shapes of calibration curves depended on the density rather than the distribution of simulated populations.

The obtained calibration curves were applied to three carabid species with different size and supposedly different rearrangement abilities and disturbance sensitivity. The data processing of field data was similar to the simulated ones.

The investigated carabid species displayed only a slight rearrangement which may be caused by the supposedly “drastic change” (mowing) in their habitat. The habitat rearrangement of the different sized species did not differ considerably.