Carabid beetle assemblages on urban derelict sites in Birmingham, UK

Brownfield sites are thought to support a minimum of 12-15% of Britain's nationally scarce and rare invertebrates. The amount of derelict land in Britain is set to decrease dramatically under current home-building and regeneration policies. There is therefore a pressing need for research into the potential importance of brownfield sites for invertebrates. In this study we sampled the carabid fauna of 26 sites, with ages varying between 2-20 years since their formation, to assess whether vegetation succession was an important determinant of invertebrate diversity the West Midlands of England. The work was carried out over the course of one growing season (in 1999), with concurrent surveys of the soil characteristics, vegetation type and land-use history. 63 carabid species were found including 2 nationally scarce species. The most species rich assemblages are found on early successional sites, which persist for 6 years on graded sites and up to 20 years on compacted substrates.