Abstract
Despite the important roles ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) play in ecosystems, the highly valued ecosystem services they provide, and ample descriptive documentation of their phenology, the relative impact of various environmental factors on carabid phenology is not well studied. Using the long-term pitfall trap capture data from 12 terrestrial Environmental Change Network (ECN) sites from the UK, we examined how changing climate influenced the phenology of common carabids, and the role particular climate components had on phenological parameters. Of the 28 species included in the analyses, 19 showed earlier start of their activity. This advance was particularly pronounced in the spring, supporting the view that early phenophases have a greater tendency to change and these changes are more directly controlled by temperature than later ones. Autumn activity extended only a few cases, suggesting a photoperiod-driven start of hibernation. No association was found between life-history traits and the ability of species to change their phenology. Air temperatures between April and June were the most important factors determining the start of activity of each species, whilst late season precipitation hastened the cessation of activity. The balance between the advantages and disadvantages of changing phenology on various levels is likely to depend on the species and even on local environmental criteria. The substantially changing phenology of Carabidae may influence their function in ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1063-1074 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | International journal of biometeorology |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 7 Mar 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Jun 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgements We thank the ECN Central Co-ordination Unit(CCU) at CEH Lancaster for providing the carabid and weather data,
and the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Sc ience and
Analytical Services Division for funding. We are also grateful for Jenni
Stockan and Gabor Lövei for their valuable comments and suggestions on
the manuscript
Keywords
- Animals
- Climate Change
- Coleoptera
- Ecosystem
- Seasons
- Temperature
- United Kingdom