Carabids species diversity in Mediterranean beech forests.

Roberto Pizzolotto

doi:10.3897/bdj.10.e78291

Abstract

BackgroundCarabid beetles are gaining more and more attention in applied studies on environmental monitoring or evaluation of natural resources, probably because they can be used as model organisms. Data on the biology and species richness and abundance of carabids could give valuable information in such applied studies, but online resources are not so informative, at least for Italy. To start filling this gap, a data table (Darwin Core formatted) was uploaded in GBIF database. The table is the result of a pitfall trapping survey of carabids living in a small part of the beech forest ecosystem of the Calabria Region (Italy). Amongst the collected species, few were very abundant, which are likely to be the characterising species of the studied ecosystem.New informationOnline datasets of Italian carabids are absent and information about the species biology, richness and abundance often lies in hard-copy papers. The dataset provided here is the first tentative approach, at least for the Italian fauna, to propose a formal structure for data on carabids acquired by field surveys and to give open access to these data. Furthermore, the need for new Darwin Core terms was commented upon briefly.

Highlights

Carabid beetles are model organisms whose systematics, morphology, ecology and evolution have been extensively studied and documented (Thiele 1977Kotze et al 2011, Thiele 1977)
Online datasets of Italian carabids are absent and information about the species biology, richness and abundance often lies in hard-copy papers
From the botanical point of view, a greater variety of beech-dominated plant communities exists in the Atlantic biogeographical region (Piovesan et al 2011), as mirrored by the NATURA 2000 classification (EU Commission 2013), accounting for twelve different beech forest habitats

Summary

Background

Carabid beetles are gaining more and more attention in applied studies on environmental monitoring or evaluation of natural resources, probably because they can be used as model organisms. Data on the biology and species richness and abundance of carabids could give valuable information in such applied studies, but online resources are not so informative, at least for Italy. To start filling this gap, a data table (Darwin Core formatted) was uploaded in GBIF database. Online datasets of Italian carabids are absent and information about the species biology, richness and abundance often lies in hard-copy papers. Darwin Core terms, beech forests, pitfall traps, species activity density

Introduction

Sampling methods