Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2008, Page 166

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DISTRIBUTION AND THE IMPACT OF OUTFIELD DRAINACE ON CARABIDS
(COLEOPTERA, CARABIDAE) IN NORTH WESTERN EYSTUROY, FAROE ISLANDS
islands except the smallest one (Bengtson,
1981; 1982), no major work examining the
distribution of carabidae in the Faroe Islands
has been printed in any scientific paper. The
Norvegian/Swedish team found 18 of the 26
species, which is probably related to the fact
that they did not have such extensive cover
of habitats as did the earlier investigations,
and that some of the 8 remainingspecies are
rare. Shetland, our neighbour to the south is
about the same size as the Faroe Islands
(1400 km2), but have more than 55 species
of carabidae (Bengtson, 1981). This can be
explanied by Shetland being closer to the
mainland pool from where the carabidae are
dispersing (Bengtson, 1981). Bengtson
(1982) shows results which West (1930) pre-
sented in The Zoology of the Faroes; he lists
all the 26 known species of carabidae in the
Faroes at that time with reference to geogra-
phical distribution, and he finds that 15 of
the species are common and widely distribu-
ted within the islands.
Results presented in this paper come
from an Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) dealing with the impact of draining of
land on the distribution of carabid-com-
munities. The field work was done in sum-
mer 2007. The structure af the carabidae
community was used to assess the state of
the environment in question (Fosaa et al„
2008). Carabidae are commonly found in dif-
ferent habitats and distribution of this fam-
ily of beetles is a good indicator of the state
of the environment (Luff 1996; Rainio and
Niemelá 2003). As carabidae are one of the
best researched insects in the Faroe Islands
(Bengtson 1981; 1982); this gives better pos-
sibilities for making comparisons.
The aim of this paper is to be a supple-
Map 1. Faroe Islands. The location of the island
Eysturoy is shown. Darkest shades are areas above
600 m altitude, medium shades are areas above
300 m altitude, and areas with no shade are below
300 m altitude.
ment to the already excisting works on the
distribution of carabidae in the Faroes and is
meant as a purely faunistic paper increasing
the knowledge of the distribution of cara-
bids, with reference to habitat. Possible ef-
fects from draining are also included.
Material and Methods
Description og the area
The study area is in the island Eysturoy in the
northern and the central part of the Faroe Is-
lands, see Map 1. Three different areas with
different drainage histories were examined.
Eiði 1 the older drained (OD) area has been
drained since 1987, and Eiði 3 the newly