Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (Suppl.), p. 1, 2019

Title: Preface

Author: Gábor L. Lövei

Author's address: Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Flakkebjerg Research Centre, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark; E-mail: gabor.lovei@agro.au.dk

The 18th European Carabidologists’ meeting was held at Agrocampus Oest in Rennes, France, on 25–19 September 2017, organised by a group of our French colleagues, lead by Elsa Canard and Manuel Plantagenet. The focal topic was “Carabid contributions to ecosystem services”. We thank the organising team and Agrocampus for hosting a fine conference, and for support from INRA, Region Bretagne, the Institute de Génétique, Environnement, et Protection des Plantes, Metropole Rennes, Université Bretagne Loire, Université de Rennes 1, and the Groupe d’Étude des Invertébrés Armoricains. This booklet contains the written version of a few presentations held at the conference. We thank the authors who submitted their manuscripts, our colleagues who helped the process with their independent reviews, and the journal Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae that offered to publish them.

DOI: 10.17109/AZH.65.Suppl.1.2019

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (Suppl.), pp. 3–20, 2019

Title: Various edge response of ground beetles in edges under natural versus anthropogenic influence: A meta-analysis using life-history traits

Authors: 1Tibor Magura, 2Gábor L. Lövei and 3Béla Tóthmérész

Authors' addresses: 1Department of Ecology, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Hungary; E-mail: maguratibor@gmail.com
2Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Flakkebjerg Research Centre DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark; E-mail: gabor.lovei@agro.au.dk
3MTA-DE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Group, University of Debrecen H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Hungary; E-mail: tothmerb@gmail.com

Abstract: Edges are on the increase world-wide due to increasing fragmentation and loss of natural habitats. After formation, edges are maintained by various processes (natural vs. continued anthropogenic interventions: forestry, agriculture, urbanization) which influence the reaction of individual species to edge effects (history-based edge effect hypothesis), and this will be reflected in the diversity of assemblages. Diversity, however, is not the most appropriate indicator of the edge effect because species with different traits may respond differently to the edges. To further articulate the history-based edge effect hypothesis, we evaluated the edge effect on one of the most commonly used life-history traits, the feeding habit of ground beetles in forest edges. A meta-analysis based on 28 publications and 422 comparisons showed that natural vs. continued anthropogenic interventions as edge-maintaining processes reflected at the trait level. Abundance of herbivorous, omnivorous, and predatory ground beetle species were all higher in the natural edges than in the forest interiors, while no similar pattern occurred in edges with continued anthropogenic influence. These results suggest that structural and environmental changes at edges sustained by repeated anthropogenic influence adversely influencing ecosystem functions, with negative effects on ecosystem services like pest or weed control.

Key words: edge effect, feeding habit, herbivorous, omnivorous, predatory

DOI: 10.17109/AZH.65.Suppl.3.2019

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (Suppl.), pp. 21–31, 2019

Title: Link between elevated locomotor activity and the spike bursting of antennal thermosensitive neurons in the carabid beetle Pterostichus oblongopunctatus

Authors: Karin Nurme, Anne Must and Enno Merivee

Authors' address: Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences Kreutzwaldi Street 1a, 51014 Tartu, Estonia; E-mails: karin.nurme@emu.ee; anne.must@emu.ee; enno.merivee@emu.ee

Abstract: Many aspects of ectothermic life are affected by external temperature conditions. Therefore, thermosensation and thermoregulation are crucial for survival of ground dwelling carabid beetles. Research in sensory physiology with Pterostichus oblongopunctatus has shown change in the reaction of antennal thermoreceptor neurons at temperatures above the P. oblongopunctatus’s preferred temperature. From 25 °C, these neurons in dome shaped sensilla start to change from regular impulse firing to firing in bursts. We hypothesized that temperature-dependent impulse bursts are involved in P. oblongopunctatus’s behavioural thermoregulation. Behavioural experiments were carried out on the arena inside an environmental test chamber, and in two different temperature conditions – one with linearly increasing temperature, and the other with constant temperature. The temperature was increased from 10 °C to 40 °C linearly during 50 min on first case and with 5 degree steps on second case with duration 50 min each step. Locomotion parameters (velocity and travelled distance) were measured using an automated video tracking system. We observed both low and high activity zones in P. oblongopunctatus. The threshold temperature for changing between zones occurred was at 25.8 °C. This indicates a link between spike burst of antennal thermoreceptor neurons and behavioural thermoregulation in P. oblongopunctatus.

Key words: Coleoptera, Carabidae, behavioural thermoregulation, locomotion parameters, peripheral spike bursting

DOI: 10.17109/AZH.65.Suppl.21.2019

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (Suppl.), pp. 33–56, 2019

Title: Restoration trajectory of carabid functional traits in a formerly afforested blanket bog

Authors: 1,2Ainoa Pravia, 2Roxane Andersen, 1Rebekka E. Artz, 1Robin J. Pakeman and 1Nick A. Littlewood

Authors' addresses: 1The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK; E-mails: ainoa.pravia@gmail.com; rebekka.artz@hutton.ac.uk; robin.pakeman@hutton.ac.uk; nick.littlewood@hutton.ac.uk
2Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso, KW14 7JD, UK; E-mail: roxane.andersen@uhi.ac.uk

Abstract: The restoration of peatland function and services on damaged peatland sites is seen as an increasingly important goal for ecological, environmental and societal reasons. Restoration monitoring often places fauna as secondary in importance to water table depth and vegetation, and when carried out, it often focuses on taxonomic indices. The use of functional traits, however, can be a complementary approach that clarifies mechanistic links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This study was conducted in large blanket bog site in northern Scotland, using a space-for-time-substitution of restoration sites from which conifer plantations had been removed 2–18 years previously. Carabid beetles were sampled by pitfall trapping in each of three treatments (undamaged bog, restored, afforested). Functional trait data were summarised from available literature. The study found that sites under forestry had different functional traits than blanket bog, and that restoration initially shifted the suites of functional traits away from both forested and open blanket bog. However, no other change in functional traits was observed, and after two decades, restoration sites continue to support carabid communities with higher dispersal capacity and more diurnal activity than the open bog. On the other hand, the functional diversity measures used in this study failed to differentiate the different treatments and further analyses suggest that environment, rather than traits, better explain carabid beetle composition following restoration of formerly afforested blanket bog. In particular, the lack of recovery of typical blanket bog vegetation and microhabitat following felling to waste and drain blocking appear to limit carabid functional recovery.

Key words: blanket bog restoration, carabids, conifers, functional traits, RLQ analysis

DOI: 10.17109/AZH.65.Suppl.33.2019

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (Suppl.), pp. 57–76, 2019

Title: Preferences of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) for herbaceous seeds

Authors: Pavel Saska, Alois Honěk and Zdenka Martinková

Authors' address: Crop Research Institute, Functional Biodiversity Group Drnovská 507, Praha 6 – Ruzyně, 16106, Czech Republic; E-mails: saska@vurv.cz; honek@vurv.cz; martinkova@vurv.cz

Abstract: Preferences of seed predators may be an important factor that introduces bias in the results of seed predation studies. In this paper, we report on the experimentally established preferences of carabid beetles for seeds of herbaceous plants. The standard arrangement of 28 species of seeds from 13 families was offered to 37 species of carabids belonging to 5 tribes. The overall consumption was affected by the body mass more than by the body length and showed a quadratic relationship with the dry body mass of the carabid. The number of preferred species of seeds varied from 1 to 16, and in unspecialized species the ordered standardized consumptions formed an almost straight line with negative slope, while in specialized to highly specialized species the standardized consumption exponentially declined with increasing order of species. The most preferred seeds were Taraxacum officinale, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Tripleurospermum inodorum and Descurainia sophia, which were preferred by 28, 20, 19 and 19 species of carabids, respectively, while Consolida regalis, Arctia lappa and Bidens tripartita were not preferred by any of the studied carabids. We pinpoint that choice for a model seed species for a seed predation experiment in the field shall reflect the attractiveness of the seed for predators as seed identity may bring bias in the results.

Key words: ground beetles, seed predation, granivory, food web, ecosystem service

DOI: 10.17109/AZH.65.Suppl.57.2019

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