Converting land into golf courses – effects on ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Abstract

Abstract Some golf courses start off as half‐size, 9‐hole courses and, if successful, expand in area to full‐size courses, thus converting more land to highly managed greenspace. We investigated carabid beetle assemblages in three established and newly created suburban golf courses in Helsinki, southern Finland. Beetles were collected from similar habitat types on established courses, newly created courses and nearby reference areas. Seventy‐one carabid beetle species were collected and the beetle assemblages were dominated by open habitat and generalist species. Assemblages differed considerably between the three golf courses studied and between the habitat types sampled, but not between course development stages (established vs. newly created) or reference areas. We argue that some carabid beetle species in the urban landscape in Helsinki are resilient and capable of rapidly colonising these modified environments. Under current management regimes, these golf courses in Helsinki, Finland, do not host carabid beetles of conservation concern, yet are rich in generalist and open habitat species.