Various companies in Sweden

Objective

During 2006 approximately 50 commercial sand- and gravel pits in the Region of Stockholm have been searched for. The aim was to get a broad view of the fauna of this environment and to find some red listed species.

Solution

The investigation was especially looking for the rare beetle, Apalus bimaculatus, and the small moth Anacampsis fuscella, two threatened species with special governmental programs assigned (Naturvårdsverkets åtgärdsprogram). Also, the fauna of solitary bees, Apoidea, digger wasps, Sphecidae, and spider wasps, Pompilidae, has been investigated by mean of approximately 150 traps evenly spread in the gravel-pits throughout the region.

Result

The investigation resulted in 35 localities for Apalus bimaculatus and 1 for Anacampsis fuscella. Among the bees and wasps 10 red-listed species were found. Both gravel pits which currently were in use for commercial extraction of gravel or sand, and those that had been closed for a long time, had records of red-listed species.

During the investigation also other species of red-listed and rare animals were recorded. The findings of these were relatively evenly distributed among the pits and only a few localities did not get any record at all. This in spite of the fact that the intensity of the search was very low. This means that the probability is high that a gravel-pit, commercially active or closed, have red listed species present in the fauna.

Continuous commercial activity in the gravel-pits is important for the long term survival of threatened fauna that depends on sandy or warm open environments in the Region. The general advice delivered in this report is to use a restoration scheme were areas of special concern always are set aside from the restoration process.