Perspective Chapter: Ground Dwelling Carabids – Challenges and Conservation in a Dynamic Environment

Abstract

Ground beetles are a group of soil-dwelling insects belonging to the order Coleoptera and the family Carabidae. They exhibit great diversity in size and behavior with more than 40,000 species worldwide, of which 2000 are found in America and 2700 in Europe. Carabids have a wide range of feeding preferences, including general-ists and specialized feeders. These beetles hold significant importance in conservation efforts due to their role as predators of insect pests and weed seeds, as bio-indicators, by contributing to ecosystem engineering and partaking in pollination. Occasionally some species act as pests of crop plants. Conservation of ground beetles faces several challenges, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticide use, agricultural practices, climate change, invasive species, and light pollution. Consequently, conservation strategies must be devised to safeguard ground beetles such as creating non-crop refuge habitats, employing targeted insecticides, adopting sustainable farming techniques, reducing light pollution, implementing monitoring programs, and engaging citizen science initiatives to help revitalize ground beetle populations in our ever-changing world.