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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(4)

Carabids as potential indicators of sustainable farming systems

Paul A. Horne
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IPM Technologies Pty Ltd, PO Box 560, Hurstbridge, Vic. 3099, Australia. Email: ipmtechnologies@bigpond.com

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(4) 455-459 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA05265
Submitted: 23 August 2005  Accepted: 28 July 2006   Published: 9 March 2007

Abstract

Carabid beetles are important biological control agents in a range of agricultural crops throughout the world. This paper outlines the history of carabid research in Australia to provide a point of reference with European and USA studies. The ecological and applied agricultural knowledge of the Australian fauna lags far behind that of Europe and the USA but we are now at the point of using the available knowledge to assess agricultural ecosystems. This paper describes how aspects of the biology and ecology of the Australian carabid fauna differ from that described in published work on other carabid populations. In particular, this paper describes how it may be possible to identify dominant (key) species in particular ecosystems (such as pasture or cropping) and use these species as indicators of ecosystem health.


Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Jessica Page and Tim New for help in preparing this paper on carabids. Both have provided comments that have helped to focus the thrust of this paper. In addition, both have assisted over many years in the research into carabids and other biological control agents in Australian agricultural systems. The Grains Research and Development Corporation has funded our research into control of slugs, Southern Farming Systems (Col Hacking in particular) has actively promoted and supported our research on carabids, and AgVise Pty Ltd (Peter O’Loughlin) initiated a new approach to pest control in broadacre cropping in Victoria. Finally, I thank Janet Horne for critical comments on the manuscript.


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