S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 58. (Budapest, 1997)

Table 2 (continued) Species BeregiZempléniAggtelekisí kság hegység karszt Cymindis humeralis (Fourcroy, 1785) + Aptinus bombarda (Illiger, 1800) + Brachinus crepitans (Linnaeus, 1758) + + It can be demonstrated by non-metric scaling (Fig. 2) that the composition of the carabid communities of the Beregi-síkság are similar to each other, although the separation of the carabid community of the Peresi-erdő (forest) (habitat 8) can be noticed. This fact can be explained with the presence of the hygrophilous species, which was found only in this habitat [e.g., Carabus clathratus Linnaeus, 1761, Elaphrus cupreus Duftschmid, 1812, Pterostichus hrunneus (Sturm, 1824), P. macer (Marsham, 1802), Platynus livens (Gyllenhal, 1810), Chlaenius nitidulus (Schrank, 1781), Oodes helopioides (Fabricius, 1792)]. The carabid fauna of the Aggteleki-karszt and the Zempléni-hegység are very different from that of the Beregi-síkság. But the composition of the communities of the two mountains differ greatly. Rafajnai-erdő (habitat 5) has a special, transitional carabid fauna between the fauna of the Beregi-síkság and the Northern Hungarian Mountains. It can be also explained with the same occurrence of species, characteristic of hills and mountains [Carabus intricatus Linnaeus, 1761, Molops piceus (Panzer, 1793) and Abax parallelus (Duftschmid, 1812)] and of mountainous species [Cychrus caraboides (Linnaeus, 1758), Carabus arcensis carpathus Born, 1902 and Cymindis cingulata Dejean, 1825]. Taxonomically well-studied ground-dwelling animals are most suitable for studying the biogeographical relations. Carabid beetles meet these requirements (Thiele 1977), thus observing them provides precise results. Our research proved both the Dacian and Carpathian biogeographical relations of the Beregi-síkság studying the carabid fauna. As the isolated forest patches serve as refuges for endangered populations, our result suggests that the Beregi-síkság needs greater protection on both sides of the HungarianUkrainian border. Moreover, the fragmented forest patches can be connected by creating a "green-network" of natural and nature-like habitats to prevent the isolation of populations (Varga 1995). This proposal may play a crucial role in the maintenance and preservation of biodiversity. Acknowledgement - The authors are thankful to Prof. Dr. Zoltán Varga for proposing the research problem and for his valuable suggestions and to Dr. Győző Szél for helping in the identification of the species. REFERENCES Csiki, E. (1905-1908): Magyarország bogárfaunája [Carabid fauna of Flungary]. Magyar Királyi Nyomda, Budapest, 465 pp. Deli, T., Dobó, T., Kiss, J. and Sümegi, P. (1995): Hinweise über die Funktion eines "Grünen Korridors" entlang der Tisza (Theiß) auf Grund der Molluskenfauna. Malakológiai Tájékoztató 14: 29-32. Freude, H., Flarde, K. W. and Lohse, G. A. (1976): Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. Goecke & Evers Verlag, Krefeld, 302 pp.