The Bugs Coleopteran Ecology Package (BugsCEP): the development and implementation of software for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatological research

This book describes the development and practical application of a unique database orientated software package, BugsCEP, for environmental, climatic and biodiversity reconstruction from beetle assemblages. BugsCEP consists of a database of ecology and distribution data for over 9400 insect taxa, and includes temperature tolerance data for 436 species. It contains abundance and summary data for over 770 sites, most of the known European Quaternary fossil coleopteran record, supported by a bibliography of over 3700 sources. Built in statistics, including a specially developed habitat classification system, provide semi-quantitative environmental reconstructions to aid in the interpretation of sites. BugsCEP's querying and reporting functions also increase the efficiency with which analyses can be undertaken, including the facility to explore the fossil record of species by searching ecology and distribution data. The Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) reconstruction method is implemented and improved upon, including predictive modelling and the graphical output of reconstructions and climate space maps. BugsCEP is available from www.bugscep.com.