Ecological traits: surrogates for short-term carabid response to regeneration felling of mature oak stands ?

Are ecological traits good surrogates for carabid species response to anthropogenic pressures? We assessed and compared parametric multi-species models of carabid response to regeneration felling at two levels: species level and ecological group level based on species habitat preference, flight ability and the combination of both. Within the 20 years following regeneration felling of old oak coppice with standards (Montargis forest, France), species responses were contrasted: their abundance either increased, decreased or remained steady. The carabid responses were best explained by habitat preference, then by the combination of habitat preference and flight ability and they were worst explained by flight ability alone. However, some ecological groups did not respond as expected from the literature. In any case, the studied ecological traits did not summarise all the species information, in terms of AICc, probably because of opposite responses within a same ecological group or because more traits are required to define species ecology.