After the windstorm of November 2004, the ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae) differentiated after the windstorm into four groups reflecting degree of damaging and forestry management (intact stand, fallen timber in situ, extracted timber, fire). The stand with fallen timber reduced abundances of original species. Removal of timber eliminated sensitive forest species and favored tolerant species, whereas the fire allowed invasions of field species. Later, the assemblages on burned sites converged to those in the unburned sites. Their restoration has a sigmoid-like course.
Independently on the above differentiation and course assemblage succession, episodes of severe drought resulted with a 1–2-years delay in sudden decline of number of individuals and species. Their numbers were restoring after longer humid periods. Because these extremes occur with a considerable regularity, the observed extremes of fluctuations of number of species and individuals represent the variability limits of the Carabid assemblages in such conditions. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index was shown, using the cross-correlation of SPEI and number of individuals and species of Carabids, as a suitable means to explain and predict such changes for the period of 1–2 years.
This paper concerns the life-cycle of Carabus dufouri Dejean 1829, one of the most representative species of Carabus in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The study is based on data of the annual activity patterns in the natural habitat, on anatomical observations related to the sex and age of the specimens, on the reproductive condition of females and, finally, on the results of laboratory rearing experiments carried out to study the oviposition patterns and the course of development of immature stages. The results indicate that C. dufouri shows the annual rhythm of autumn breeders. However, the rhythm may also be related to the winter-breeder type of North Africa.