Carabid Beetle Ecology as a Function of Disturbance in Temperate and Tropical Forests

Abstract

Ecological disturbance is an episodic event which causes temporary disruption to components integral to structure and function of an ecosystem. With the majority of today’s forests recovering from past disturbance, knowledge of the changes and patterns of forest species in relation to disturbance events are important to our understanding of ecosystem change. The focus of this research is to examine the effects of forest disturbance on species distributions and species assemblages, with carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as the model organism group.