Dataset of carabid beetles in Southern Dolomites from 1983 to 1996

Background The Carabid beetles are a key group for assessing ecological characteristics of natural environments because they play a role as bioindicator organisms suitable for both theoretical and applied studies. Moreover, they are one of the few Coleoptera orders with numerous quantitative ecological studies conducted using consistent methodologies in the Dolomite environments (Eastern Italian Alps). In this paper, natural and semi-natural habitats located at mid- and high-altitude located in the Southern Dolomites were studied, specifically the populations of carabids living in alpine grasslands and active scree-slopes from 1300 m a.s.l. to 2160 m a.s.l. New information This dataset advances the initiative of adopting a formal structure for carabid beetle datasets and promotes open access to such data. This publication specifically targets historical data published in grey literature, written in Italian or published as technical reports not available online. The Darwin Core standard was used to create the datasets and tables have been made available through the GBIF portal (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). This ensures the data adhere to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), aligning with current best practices in scientific research.