Tenebrionid beetles: bio-indicators of sustainability in agricultural activities

Spanish agricultural landscapes based on soil management with traditional practices and the maintenance of natural vegetation patches have led to farming areas with high nature value linked to their high biological diversity, especially in steppe areas.

The current abandonment of traditional agriculture, the use of chemicals and intensive land use have led to a homogenisation of agricultural systems at local and landscape level, and to a significant loss of natural and semi-natural habitats, drastically impacting on the decline or disappearance of insect populations.

To face this reality we research how tenebrionid beetles could constitute bioindicators for agrarian sustainability in steppe areas and how they can recolonise disturbed farming areas (from natural areas without farming pressures) to naturally compensate local extinctions of their populations.

Approximately 50% of European species depend on farming areas. This initiative contributes to our conservation efforts in these areas.