Life history adaptations of Carabus populations in a suburban park: A capture-recapture case study

A two seasons capture-recapture study was preformed between 2016 and 2017, focusing on the Carabus species living in a suburban park in Budapest, Hungary. Eighty-four live-capture non-baited pitfall traps were placed in a grid covering an area of 567 m2. Five Carabus species were captured in the park from the nine species in the potential species pool. The most numerous were C. scheidleri, C. ulrichii and C. coriaceus. C. convexus and C. intricatus were captured only a few times. All Carabus species were individually marked and released. We experienced high fluctuation in the estimated population size of C. scheidleri and C. ulrichii, the two most abundant species. The marking technique made possible to detect that the two dominant species overwinter both as larvae and as adults, and thus share remarkably similar life histories. Similar habitat preference, life cycle and low dispersal power sets stage for potential competition between the two species. Due to population sizes below viability limit and the potential for competitive interactions, we presume that a larger network of metapopulation structure makes it possible that these populations persist in a suburban park. The results indicate that urban parks, if they are sufficiently connected to other suitable habitat patches, can have a significant importance in preserving large bodied predatory Carabus species.