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Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) at forest-farmland edges in southern Finland

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Abstract

We studied carabid beetle abundance at eight forest-farmland edges using pitfall traps across 60-m gradients (30 m into the forest, 30 m into the adjacent farmland) in southern Finland in May–August 2001. Carabid assemblages changed gradually across the studied gradients, the most drastic changes occurring right at the edge (5 m). Forest-associated carabids were often caught in farmland habitat within 20–30 m from the edges, and open-habitat carabids were also caught in the forest patches. However, these two groups responded to the edge in slightly different ways. Forest carabids were abundant all across the gradient from forest interior to the edge ( 80 m 9), while open-habitat carabids showed a drastic abundance decrease toward the forest, 5–10 m before the edge the abundance-change slope across the edge: gradient was steeper for open-habitat than for forest carabids. Wing-dimorphic and long-winged carabids increased more steeply from forest to farmland, compared to short-winged carabids. Moreover, carabids associated with dry and moist habitat showed indications of stronger response to the edge than did eurytopic species. The pair-wise comparisons between predatory/mixed-diet carabids and seed-eaters, spring and autumn breeders, and day- and night-active species did not indicate edge-response differences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, Earth Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada

    Matti Koivula, Vesa Hyyryläinen & Eeva Soininen

  2. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box, 65, FI-00014, Finland

    Matti Koivula

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  1. Matti Koivula
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  2. Vesa Hyyryläinen
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  3. Eeva Soininen
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Koivula, M., Hyyryläinen, V. & Soininen, E. Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) at forest-farmland edges in southern Finland. Journal of Insect Conservation 8, 297–309 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-004-0296-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-004-0296-9

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