On the basis of the data heterogeneity and landscape features outlined above, we interpret the carabid distribution in olive plantations as stemming from two sets of species, one set originating from forest and the other from non-forest ecosystems. The two sets actually coexist in the studied sites, giving rise to several species groupings, depending on the ecological factors prevailing within each olive plot. A set of a few species originating from natural forest ecosystems (e.g., Pterostichus melas, Calathus montivagus, Laemostenus cimmerius) was able to resist man-induced land modifications (i.e., agriculture) by keeping viable populations in olive plantations. This was also thanks to a probable turnover from the surrounding forest environments, as observed for Lepidoptera . A set of species originating from non-forest ecosystems found in olive plantations a new environment, which was to be colonized (e.g., Calathus fuscipes and Pseudophonus rufipes), to be opportunistically exploited (e.g., Amara aenea, Brachinus sclopeta, B. italicus and Scybalicus oblongiusculus), or facilitated fitting microhabitat conditions (e.g., soil humidity for Bembidiinae).