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‘Carabidologists do it all’ (Niemelä 1996a) is a phrase with which most European carabidologists are familiar. Indeed, during the last half a century, professional and amateur entomologists have contributed enormously to our understanding of the basic biology of carabid beetles. The success of the field is in no small part due to regular European Carabidologists’ Meetings, which started in 1969 in Wijster, the Netherlands, with the 14th meeting again held in the Netherlands in 2009, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first meeting and 50 years of long-term research in the Dwingelderveld. This paper offers a subjective summary of some of the major developments in carabidology since the 1960s. Taxonomy of the family Carabidae is now reasonably established, and the application of modern taxonomic tools has brought up several surprises like elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Progress has been made on the ultimate and proximate factors of seasonality and timing of reproduction, which only exceptionally show non-seasonality. Triggers can be linked to evolutionary events and plausibly explained by the “taxon cycle” theory. Fairly little is still known about certain feeding preferences, including granivory and ants, as well as unique life history strategies, such as ectoparasitism and predation on higher taxa. The study of carabids has been instrumental in developing metapopulation theory (even if it was termed differently). Dispersal is one of the areas intensively studied, and results show an intricate interaction between walking and flying as the major mechanisms. The ecological study of carabids is still hampered by some unresolved questions about sampling and data evaluation. It is recognised that knowledge is uneven, especially concerning larvae and species in tropical areas. By their abundance and wide distribution, carabid beetles can be useful in population studies, bioindication, conservation biology and landscape ecology. Indeed, 40 years of carabidological research have provided so much data and insights, that among insects - and arguably most other terrestrial organisms - carabid beetles are one of the most worthwhile model groups for biological studies.

Funding Information: This work was supported by EIT-CLIMATE-KIC [grant number TC_2.1.5_190294_P018-1A, 2019]. The sponsor was not involved in the preparation of the article. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors The development of legitimate, operative, and feasible landscape adaptation planning for climate change is dependent on the specific characteristics of the landscape and its inhabitants. Spatial patterns, culture, governance systems, socio-economic structures, planning methods, history, and collectively envisioned futures need to be accommodated. The literature suggests that landscape is a complex and dynamic socio-ecological system, the management and adaptation of which requires systemic and integrative approaches to respond to a wide variety of drivers of change, challenges, and interests. Based on activities developed in 15 European pilot landscapes, we identify some of the key factors and conditions affecting the generation of representative local networks for landscape adaptation to climate change. We illustrate how social learning and co-creation processes can be implemented in them and how their co-produced outcomes can help local communities overcome barriers and address critical issues in adaptive planning. Our results provide a framework for the creation of similar networks in other landscapes, exploring at the same time the interactions between the composition of networks, social learning, and the quality of the co-produced outputs as a fundamental step for the development of Landscape Adaptation Plans to Climate Change.

Negative anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., drainage and urbanization) are causing biotic homogenization through the replacement of specialist species with generalists. The identification and conservation of biodiversity hotspots within degraded (e.g., highly urbanized) landscapes, and ecological restoration (i.e., positive anthropogenic disturbance) have the potential to be important tools to counteract these negative effects. Mires are suitable targets for the investigation of these homogenization-reducing activities since they host many mire specialist species of, e.g. invertebrates. The main aim of this PhD thesis was to investigate the effects of negative anthropogenic disturbances [urbanization (Chapter I) and drainage for forestry (Chapters II-IV)] on the invertebrate communities of boreal mires and how effective efforts are to reverse these negative effects through ecological restoration [i.e. positive anthropogenic disturbance (Chapters II-IV)]. In addition, the purpose was to determine which environmental variables are key in supporting mire specialist invertebrate species and communities. Therefore, this thesis started by reviewing current knowledge on the responses of mire invertebrate species and communities to anthropogenic disturbances. The effects of urbanization were studied on spiders and carabid beetles (Chapter I), while the effects of drainage for forestry and subsequent restoration were investigated on five solitary invertebrate groups (Chapter II) and social insects, i.e. ants (Chapter III). Finally, a powerful Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) design was used to reveal the effects of drainage and restoration on butterflies (Chapter IV). Generally, both high levels of urbanization (Chapter I) and mire drainage for forestry (Chapters II-IV) had negative effects on mire specialist species (lower abundances) and invertebrate communities (homogenized and very different in structure from pristine mire communities). However, these detrimental effects can be reduced or even reversed through appropriate urban mire conservation and ecological restoration. Local habitat conditions were shown to be particularly important for the survival of specialist invertebrate species in urban mires (Chapter I) and for the successful recovery of restored mire invertebrates (Chapters II-IV). Individual mire specialist species responded negatively to environmental variables associated with deteriorated (i.e. drained or highly urbanized) mire conditions [number of high (> 3m) trees for carabid beetles, crane flies, micromoths (Chapter II), ants (Chapter III) and butterflies (Chapter IV)] and positively to pristine mire-associated variables [Sphagnum cover for carabid beetles and spiders (Chapters I-II), crane flies (Chapter II) and suggestively for ants (Chapter III); larval food plant cover and number of lower (1.5 - 3m) trees for butterflies (Chapter IV)]. The more specialized the mire species were, the more negatively they were affected by deteriorated-mire-associated variables and the more positively they responded to pristine-mire-associated variables. I conclude that the restoration actions taken (removing tall trees but leaving smaller trees, and raising the water table level) are appropriate in creating suitable habitat conditions for mire invertebrates, as both individual specialist species and communities showed positive responses already 1-3 years since restoration (Chapters II-IV). Finally, the appropriate restoration actions in well-prioritized locations as well as urban mire conservation should reverse the trend of biotic homogenization. Biologinen homogenisaatio eli samankaltaistuminen aiheuttaa usein erikoistuneiden spesialistilajien korvautumisen yleislajeilla, generalisteilla. Homogenisaatio on seurausta haitallisesta ihmistoiminnasta, kuten elinympäristöjen kuivattamisesta tai urbanisoitumisesta. Monimuotoisimpien elinympäristöjen tunnistaminen, suojelu ja ennallistaminen ovat keinoja torjua näitä haitallisia muutoksia. Soiden erikoistunut selkärangatonlajisto tarjoaa mahdollisuuden tutkia kuinka lajiston yksipuolistumista voitaisiin vähentää. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää miten ympäristölle haitallinen ihmistoiminta kuten urbanisaatio (Artikkeli I) ja metsänojitus (Artikkelit II-IV) vaikuttavat boreaalisen vyöhykkeen soiden selkärangatonlajiston rakenteeseen ja kuinka havaittuja negatiivisia muutoksia lajistossa on onnistuttu torjumaan tai vähentämään aktiivisilla ennallistamistoimilla. Tutkimuksessa pyrittiin myös tunnistamaan, mitkä ympäristötekijät ovat soihin erikoistuneen lajiston kannalta keskeisimpiä ja miten suolajisto reagoi haitalliseen ihmistoimintaan. Kaupungistumisen vaikutuksia selkärangatonyhteisöihin tutkittiin hämähäkeillä ja maakiitäjäisillä (Artikkeli I). Metsänojituksen ja ennallistamisen vaikutuksia lajiyhteisöihin tutkittiin viidellä eri selkärangatonryhmällä (Artikkeli II) ja sosiaalisilla hyönteisillä (muurahaisilla) (Artikkeli III). Artikkelissa neljä metsänojituksen ja ennallistamisen vaikutuksia perhosten lajistorakenteeseen päästiin tutkimaan ennen ennallistamistoimia ja sen jälkeen. Sekä kaupungistuminen (Artikkeli I) että metsänojitus (Artikkelit II-IV) johtivat suoympäristöön erikoistuneiden selkärangattomien taantumiseen ja lajiston yksipuolistumiseen ja muuttumiseen hyvin erilaiseksi kuin luonnontilaisilla soilla. Näitä kielteisiä muutoksia on kuitenkin mahdollista lieventää tai jopa kokonaan välttää soiden suojelulla ja ennallistamisella. Paikalliselin ympäristön piirteillä on erittäin suuri merkitys erikoistuneen selkärangatonlajiston menestykseen sekä urbaaneilla alueilla olevilla soilla (Artikkeli I) että ojitetuilla ja ennallistetuilla soilla (Artikkelit II-IV). Suoympäristöön erikoistunut lajisto taantui ihmistoiminnan lisääntyessä soilla. Ympäristömuuttujista yli 3 metristen puiden runsastumisen havaittiin vähentävän maakiitäjäisten, vaaksiaisten, mikroperhosten, muurahaisten ja perhosten suolajistoa. Luonnontilaisilla soilla runsaana esiintyvän rahkasammalen (Sphagnum) peittävyys puolestaan korreloi positiivisesti suolajiston runsauden kanssa, etenkin maakiitäjäisillä ja hämähäkeillä (Artikkeli I), vaaksiaisilla (Artikkeli II) ja viitteellisesti myös muurahaisilla (Artikkeli III). Matala puusto (1,5-3 m) ja toukkien ravintokasvien peittävyys olivat soiden perhoslajistolle (Artikkeli IV) keskeisimmät ympäristömuuttujat. Mitä erikoistuneempi soiden selkärangatonlajisto oli, sitä enemmän se oli riippuvainen luonnontilaisten soiden rakennepiirteistä ja sitä herkemmin ne reagoivat haitalliseen ihmistoimintaan. Soiden ennallistamistoimet (korkeiden puiden poisto, pienten puiden jättäminen ja veden pinnan nosto) osoittautuivat toimiviksi keinoksi palauttaa ja ylläpitää soiden rakennepiirteitä ja luoda sopivaa elinympäristöä vaateliaille suolajeille. Jo 1-3 vuoden kuluttua ennallistamisesta oli alueen selkärangatonlajisto kehittynyt siten, että osa erikoistuneista ja vaateliaista suolajeista oli runsastunut ja lajistorakenne oli kehittymässä kohti luonnontilaisten soiden lajiston rakennetta. Soiden ennallistaminen osoittautui toimivaksi keinoksi hillitä selkärangatonlajiston homogenisaatiota. Ennallistamisen kohdentaminen arvokkaisiin suoluontokohteisiin on hyödyllistä, mutta hyviä tuloksia voi saada aikaan myös pienialaisilla soilla kaupungeissa.