Since 1999, our knowledge of arthropods in native forests of the Azores has improved greatly. Under the BALA project (Biodiversity of Arthropods of Laurisilva of the Azores), an extensive standardised sampling protocol was employed in most of the native forest cover of the Archipelago. Additionally, in 2003 and 2004, more intensive sampling was carried out in several fragments, resulting in nearly a doubling of the number of samples collected.

A total of 6,770 samples from 100 sites distributed amongst 18 fragments of seven islands have been collected, resulting in almost 140,000 specimens having been caught. Overall, 452 arthropod species were recorded.

Almost ten years later (2010-2012) the same basic sampling protocol was applied. More precisely, fifteen native forest fragments distributed across seven of the nine islands were sampled in this study. Altogether, they represent most of the native forest cover of the Azores. During the summer of 2010, transects of 150 m long and 5 m wide were established again in 30 ofthe 100 original BALA sites.

Specifically we want to examine:  

• Whether species richness and abundance distribution have changed after 10 years for both indigenous and non-indigenous species assemblages?
• If changes are detected, whether they could be related to human-mediated factors such as area of the fragment or forest disturbance?
• Whether species-specific temporal changes could be predicted by macroecological and functional attributes of the species?