Eur. J. Entomol. 111 (5): 663-668, 2014 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2014.080

Dispersal of individuals of the flightless grassland ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), in three populations and what they tell us about mobility estimates based on mark-recapture

Zoltan ELEK1, Lukáš DRAG2,3, Pavel POKLUDA2,3, Lukáš ČÍŽEK2,3, Sándor BÉRCES4
1 MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, c/o Biological Institute of Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C., H-1117 Budapest, and Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13., H-1088 Budapest, Hungary; e-mail: zoltan.elek2@gmail.com
2 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
3 Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; e-mails: lukascizek@gmail.com; lukasdrag@gmail.com
4 Duna-Ipoly National Park Directorate, Budapest, Hungary, e-mail: bercess@gmail.com

Knowledge of the dispersal ability of endangered species is crucial for developing effective, evidence-based conservation policies. Due to their limited dispersal abilities and specific habitat requirements, insects are among the animals most threatened by habitat fragmentation. We studied three populations of the highly endangered species of ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus, at three sites in Central Europe (Hungary and Czech Republic) using mark-release-recapture (MRR). The total catch of 574 pitfall traps set at the three sites was 6255 individuals. Depending on the site, the percentage recaptured was 13-32%. Average and maximum distance moved by individuals of both sexes at each of the sites ranged between 47-132 and 207-1104 m, respectively. The probability of the movements following an inverse power function (IPF) for the two sexes did not differ, but did differ among sites. Probability of dispersing for distances >100 m differed by an order of magnitude between sites, most likely because of differences in how the samples were collected. Despite the fact that individual beetles are able to move over distances in the order of kilometres, the high fragmentation of their habitats is likely to prevent them from colonizing most uninhabited habitat patches. Therefore, the conservation of this threatened ground beetle could be improved by adopting and implementing a policy of assisted dispersal. Our results from three study sites also provide an interesting illustration of the variability in the estimates of the probability of dispersal obtained using MRR.

Keywords: Coleoptera, Carabidae, Carabus hungaricus, dispersal, inverse power function, Hungary, Czech Republic, Natura 2000

Received: December 16, 2013; Revised: April 18, 2014; Accepted: April 18, 2014; Prepublished online: September 10, 2014; Published: December 10, 2014  Show citation

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ELEK, Z., DRAG, L., POKLUDA, P., ČÍŽEK, L., & BÉRCES, S. (2014). Dispersal of individuals of the flightless grassland ground beetle, Carabus hungaricus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), in three populations and what they tell us about mobility estimates based on mark-recapture. EJE, 111(5), 663-668. doi: 10.14411/eje.2014.080
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