THE RESPONSE OF ARCTIC CARABIDAE (COLEOPTERA) TO CLIMATE-CHANGE BASEDON THE FOSSIL RECORD OF THE QUATERNARY PERIOD

The response of Carabidae, based on C-14-dated fossil assemblages, was to track climate change through dispersal and differential survival. Isolation of populations of arctic Carabidae caused by Quaternary clim atic oscillations did not lead to enhanced rates of extinction and spe ciation, as it did in the mammals. Regional extinction of populations occurred as dispersing individuals encountered barriers such as ice sh eets. Variation in mtDNA haplotype diversity in the arctic-alpine spec ies Amara alpina (Payk.) in North America demonstrates the importance of climate change, glaciation, and extirpation in determining genetic variation. The future response of Carabidae to climate change will pro bably be similar to that of the past with the exception that species e xtinction is expected to be higher because of the additional fragmenta tion of habitats caused by human activities.