The aim of this research was to define the effect of the construction and renovation of a highway bypass around the town of Sk?pe on the environment and assemblages of carabid beetles. This four-year study was based on catching samples of beetles using pitfall traps. The traps were set first in 2008 and later from 2010 to 2012, after the renovation of the road, along roadside verges adjacent to two ca. 100-year-old pine forest stands, wet habitats and fallows of arable fields and inside these habitats about 25 m from the road (control plots). The carabids collected were identified to species and numbers of individuals and dominance values of each of the species were calculated for each study plot and each year. Furthermore, the dominance of the different species of plants was assessed. Numbers of species, numbers of individuals, percentage share of forest species and individuals, and Shannon diversity values of the carabid assemblages were analyzed. Multivariate statistical analyses (ordinations) were carried out using the dominance of the different species of carabids and using the ecological indicator values of plants as environmental factors. The construction of the bypass in 1987 resulted in more diversified carabid assemblages along the roadsides. Carabid fauna along the roadsides differed from that in the control plots in forests and in terms of some parameters from the control plots in wet habitats, but not statistical from the control plots in the fallow areas of arable fields. The renovation of the road 22 years after construction did not result in any significant changes in the characteristic parameters of the carabid assemblages along the roadsides, but gradient analysis indicated that it did have an effect. In terms of the environmental conditions of the habitats based on the plant associations occurring there the roadside habitats differed from the control plots in forests and wetlands. Since the number of sites studied is rather low, the results of this study have to be considered to be preliminary, but may provide research hypotheses for further research on highway roadsides.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of differentiated landscape management on the distribution and abundance of butterfly species. The question was raised with regard to which land use type benefited butterflies, and which affected them, that is: under which management type does biodiversity increase, and under which is it depleted? The spatial and abundance distributions of the examined butterfly species diverged considerably. The observed differences between the abundance distributions may be due to diverse conditions in the small-scale environments or specific food preferences of individual species. The diversified management of the “Krzywda” landscape fosters the abundance of mesophilic and ubiquitous butterfly species, whereas xerotermophilic and hygrophilous species are not fostered. The transects established on the fallow land with harvested biomass as well as that with unharvested biomass and in the forest ecotone showed that the fallows were characterized by the highest abundance of butterflies, and the greatest number of plant species was recorded there. Mown fallow lands with not harvested biomass as well as forested areas fostered polyphagous and monophagous butterfly species. Oligophagous butterfly species were fostered by mown fallow lands with not harvested biomass. Unmown meadows, the ecotone marshland and fallow, as well as unmown fallow lands did not foster butterfly abundance. This most likely means that land management can influence the food base of butterflies, and consequently, their abundance. The stage of succession as well as the homogeneity of the area in terms of vegetation had the strongest filtering effect on the occurrence and distribution of butterflies among the analyzed variables. The number of species as well as their abundance was higher on transects classified as young successional stages on which successional processes were artificially inhibited by mowing and biomass removal. Advanced environmental engineering enables humans to influence species composition in a given ecosystem to achieve a desired result. There is no doubt that human activity will be successful when the needs of individual species in a given environment are accurately understood.

Long-term data on carabid beetles assemblages on differently managed study sites in forests and open areas were analysed to study the impact of selected environmental factors on the carabid assemblages of both the individual study sites over the years and the set of all study sites in selected years.Ordination separated forest stands from open areas along with the first, and samples of 2011 from those of 2015 along the second axis. For study sites in forest stands in most cases, precipitation was a significant factor, especially precipitation in the year before the inventory. However, for the youngest forest site, the year of the study was most important, indicating a succession process. For study sites in open areas, both precipitation and temperature showed most often significant results. Analysing the impact of environmental factors on carabid assemblages in the full set of study sites in 2011 and 2015 revealed carbon content in the organic layer and distance from the nearest forest as significant factors. The results of the study extend our knowledge on the impact of environmental factors on the formation of carabid beetle assemblages in rural landscapes, which is essential in the framework of developing biodiversity conservation strategies.

A drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale has been reported. We assume that this is a multifactorial problem involving biotope types and plant diversity, soil characteristics and human activity (management of areas). The aim of our study was to analyze diversity patterns of carabid beetles and butterflies as predatory and phytophagous arthropod groups in response to soil characteristics and plant diversity in different types of ecosystems and ecotones with diverse management situated in a heterogeneous landscape composed of different forests, agricultural and post-agricultural areas of different stages of succession and watercourses and mires in north-western Poland. Three different forests, three fallows, two meadows and two ecotones, differing with respect to the involved ecosystems, were included in the study. Our results showed that the study site types differed with respect to soil characteristics and plant diversity, but ecotones were not characterized by explicitly higher diversity in these parameters. For both carabid beetles and butterflies, characteristic assemblages for individual study sites could be demonstrated. We could also show differences in the most important factors between these two taxonomic groups. We assume that management type is important regarding ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity. Large-scale management strategies are necessary in order to maintain or create landscapes with high natural qualities.