Small populations of Carabidae and the protection of nature in Hungary

Abstract

There are 186 nature reserves in Hungary with a total surface of about 600,000 hectares. The four national parks occupy 25% of this. At present there are only 2 national parks, 9 landscape areas and 11 protected areas having a fairly well explored carabid fauna. On the basis of the collection of the Janus Pannonius Museum and all the papers on this matter I compiled the check-list of Hungarian carabids. According to my knowledge, there are 492 carabid species in Hungary. In addition the presence of 28 species and subspecies is uncertain. Iproved the occurrence of 451 species in the conservation areas, of which 51 species are only known from nature reserves. Considering the small populations, we know 31 species in Hungary with only one locality, and a further 132 threatened species. I made some types for the habitats of the species with small populations. The effect of catching method is examined. The problem of extinct populations and species is discussed. The rare species of the most important protected areas are enumerated.