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Over forty years ago, Menno Schilthuizen, while still a high school student, conducted a study on carrion beetles at the Lichtenbeek estate near Arnhem. Using small traps baited with meat and other attractants, he recorded over a thousand beetles in the spring of 1982, meticulously documenting the species and their numbers.
Four decades on, Schilthuizen (now a professor of evolution and biodiversity at Leiden University) and his team collaborated with high school students from the Thomas a Kempis College in Arnhem to replicate the study with precision: at the same location, using the same methods, on the same dates. The goal was to examine how the carrion beetle population has changed over the years. Their findings have been published in the Biodiversity Data Journal; the article can be viewed online here.
Key findings: shifts in biodiversity
The high school students analysed the beetles that they collected. Their research revealed that some carrion beetle species have disappeared, while other, new species have appeared. However, the overall number of species and population densities have remained largely the same.
One striking discovery was that common species have become even more abundant, while rare species have become even rarer. This widening gap in species commonness suggests a decline in biodiversity, which could signal the potential local extinction of the rarer species.
A citizen science initiative
The research was initiated by the Taxon Foundation, a nonprofit set up and headed by Schilthuizen, in collaboration with biology teacher Leonie Wezendonk of the Thomas a Kempis College. Taxon foundation specializes in biodiversity research conducted by school children, local residents, and other community scientists. The project was made possible through funding from the Netherlands Cultuurfonds and the Suzanne Hovinga Foundation.
Research article:
Schilthuizen M, van der Sterren T, Kersten I, Groenhof M, van der Meulen H, Wezendonk L (2025) Resampling a carrion beetle fauna after 40 years (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Silphinae, and Leiodidae, Cholevinae). Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e151206. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e151206