scholarly journals Populations and assemblages living on the edge: dung beetles responses to forests-pasture ecotones

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e6148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Paola Martínez-Falcón ◽  
Gustavo A. Zurita ◽  
Ilse J. Ortega-Martínez ◽  
Claudia E. Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Edge Effects ◽  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Insect Biodiversity ◽  
As Species ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Managed Landscapes

Edge effects alter insect biodiversity in several ways. However, we still have a limited understanding on simultaneous responses of ecological populations and assemblages to ecotones, especially in human modified landscapes. We analyze edge effects on dung beetle populations and assemblages between livestock pastures and native temperate forests (Juniperusand pine-oak forests (POFs)) to describe how species abundances and assemblage parameters respond to edge effects through gradients in forest-pasture ecotones. InJuniperusforest 13 species avoided the ecotones: six species showed greater abundance in forest interior and seven in pasturelands, while the other two species had a neutral response to the edge. In a different way, in POF we found five species avoiding the edge (four with greater abundance in pastures and only one in forest), two species had a neutral response, and two showed a unimodal pattern of abundance near to the edge. At the assemblage level edge effects are masked, as species richness, diversity, functional richness, functional evenness, and compositional incidence dissimilarity did not vary along forest-pasture ecotones. However, total abundance and functional divergence showed higher values in pastures in one of the two sampling localities. Also, assemblage similarity based on species’ abundance showed a peak near to the edge in POF. We propose that conservation efforts in human-managed landscapes should focus on mitigating current and delayed edge effects. Ecotone management will be crucial in livestock dominated landscapes to conserve regional biodiversity and the environmental services carried out by dung beetles.

scholarly journals Revisiting spatial and temporal patterns of dung beetles in Brazilian Pampa: the role of β-diversity process-related components

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Giovâni da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Species Turnover ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Dissimilarity Coefficient ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Forest Ecotone

β-diversity is a key measure to understand biodiversity patterns across spatial and temporal scales. In this study, two published datasets on dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) from Brazilian Pampa are re-analyzed aiming to investigate the role of β-diversity process-related components based on composition- and abundance-based approaches for both spatial (grassland-forest ecotone) and temporal (samplings along a year) scales. Dung beetles were sampled in a grassland-forest ecotone in October 2006 and in a grassland area monthly during an entire year (December 2006 to November 2007), using baited pitfall traps. β-diversity was decomposed into turnover and nestedness-resultant components based on Jaccard dissimilarity coefficient, and also into balanced variation in abundance and abundance gradients based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient. Both environmental (spatial scale) and climatic (temporal scale) differences affected dung beetles similarly in terms of species replacement and nestedness patterns, and similarly in terms of variation in abundance and abundance gradients. For both spatial and temporal approach, the species turnover and the variation in species abundances were higher, while nestedness patterns and abundance gradients were of minor relative importance.

scholarly journals Diversity Patterns of Dung Beetles along a Mediterranean Elevational Gradient

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Cristina Mantoni ◽  
Noelline Tsafack ◽  
Ettore Palusci ◽  
Stefano Di Pietro ◽  
Simone Fattorini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Most studies of biodiversity–elevational patterns do not take species abundance into consideration. Hill numbers are a unified family of indices that use species abundance and allow a complete characterization of species assemblages through diversity profiles. Studies on dung beetle responses to elevation were essentially based on species richness and produced inconsistent results because of the non-distinction between different habitats and the use of gradients dispersed over wide areas. We analyzed dung beetle diversity in a Mediterranean mountain (central Italy) for different habitats (woodlands vs. grasslands) and taxonomic groups (scarabaeids and aphodiids). Scarabaeids were the most abundant. Since scarabaeids are able to construct subterranean nests, this indicates that the warm and dry summer climatic conditions of high elevations favor species capable of protecting their larvae from desiccation. Dung beetles were more abundant and diversified in grasslands than in woodlands, which is consistent with their preference for open habitats. In the woodlands, diversity increased with increasing elevation because of increasing tree thinning, whereas, in the grasslands, diversity decreased with elevation because of increasingly harsher environmental conditions. These results indicate a trade-off in the beetle response to elevation between the positive effects of increasing the availability of more suitable habitats and the decrease of optimal environmental conditions.

scholarly journals Wood Pastures: A Transitional Habitat between Forests and Pastures for Dung Beetle Assemblages

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
László Somay ◽  
Viktor Szigeti ◽  
Gergely Boros ◽  
Réka Ádám ◽  
András Báldi
Keyword(s):  
Functional Group ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Assemblage Composition ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

Wood pastures are home to a variety of species, including the dung beetle. Dung beetles are an important functional group in decomposition. Specifically, in terms of livestock manure, they not only contribute to nutrient cycling but are key players in supporting human and animal health. Dung beetles, however, are declining in population, and urgent recommendations are needed to reverse this trend. Recommendations need to be based on solid evidence and specific habitats. Herein, we aimed to investigate the role of an intermediate habitat type between forests and pastures. Wood pastures are key areas for dung beetle conservation. For this reason, we compared dung beetle assemblages among forests, wood pastures, and grasslands. We complemented this with studies on the effects of dung type and season at three Hungarian locations. Pitfall traps baited with cattle, sheep, or horse dung were used in forests, wood pastures, and pasture habitats in spring, summer, and autumn. Dung beetle assemblages of wood pastures showed transient characteristics between forests and pastures regarding their abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity, assemblage composition, and indicator species. We identified a strong effect of season and a weak of dung type. Assemblage composition proved to be the most sensitive measure of differences among habitats. The conservation of dung beetles, and the decomposition services they provide, need continuous livestock grazing to provide fresh dung, as well as the maintenance of wood pastures where dung beetle assemblages typical of forests and pastures can both survive.

scholarly journals Effects of habitat edges on vegetation structure and the vulnerable golden-brown mouse lemur (Microcebus ravelobensis) in northwestern Madagascar

BMC Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertrand Andriatsitohaina ◽  
Daniel Romero-Mujalli ◽  
Malcolm S. Ramsay ◽  
Frederik Kiene ◽  
Solofonirina Rasoloharijaona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Logistic Function ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Vegetation Parameters

Abstract Background Edge effects can influence species composition and community structure as a result of changes in microenvironment and edaphic variables. We investigated effects of habitat edges on vegetation structure, abundance and body mass of one vulnerable Microcebus species in northwestern Madagascar. We trapped mouse lemurs along four 1000-m transects (total of 2424 trap nights) that ran perpendicular to the forest edge. We installed 16 pairs of 20 m2 vegetation plots along each transect and measured nine vegetation parameters. To determine the responses of the vegetation and animals to an increasing distance to the edge, we tested the fit of four alternative mathematical functions (linear, power, logistic and unimodal) to the data and derived the depth of edge influence (DEI) for all parameters. Results Logistic and unimodal functions best explained edge responses of vegetation parameters, and the logistic function performed best for abundance and body mass of M. ravelobensis. The DEI varied between 50 m (no. of seedlings, no. of liana, dbh of large trees [dbh ≥ 10 cm]) and 460 m (tree height of large trees) for the vegetation parameters, whereas it was 340 m for M. ravelobensis abundance and 390 m for body mass, corresponding best to the DEI of small tree [dbh < 10 cm] density (360 m). Small trees were significantly taller and the density of seedlings was higher in the interior than in the edge habitat. However, there was no significant difference in M. ravelobensis abundance and body mass between interior and edge habitats, suggesting that M. ravelobensis did not show a strong edge response in the study region. Finally, regression analyses revealed three negative (species abundance and three vegetation parameters) and two positive relationships (body mass and two vegetation parameters), suggesting an impact of vegetation structure on M. ravelobensis which may be partly independent of edge effects. Conclusions A comparison of our results with previous findings reveals that edge effects are variable in space in a small nocturnal primate from Madagascar. Such an ecological plasticity could be extremely relevant for mitigating species responses to habitat loss and anthropogenic disturbances.

scholarly journals A review and phylogeny of Scarabaeine dung beetle fossils (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), with the description of twoCanthochilumspecies from Dominican amber

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Tarasov ◽  
Fernando Z. Vaz-de-Mello ◽  
Frank-Thorsten Krell ◽  
Dimitar Dimitrov
Keyword(s):  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Dominican Amber ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses

Despite the increasing rate of systematic research on scarabaeine dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), their fossil record has remained largely unrevised. In this paper, we review all 33 named scarabaeine fossils and describe two new species from Dominican amber (Canthochilum allenisp.n.,Canthochilum philipsivieorumsp.n.). We provide a catalogue of all fossil Scarabaeinae and evaluate their assignment to this subfamily, based primarily on the original descriptions but also, where possible, by examining the type specimens. We suggest that only 21 fossil taxa can be reliably assigned to the Scarabaeinae, while the remaining 14 should be treated as doubtful Scarabaeinae. The doubtful scarabaeines include the two oldest dung beetle fossils known from the Cretaceous and we suggest excluding them from any assessments of the minimum age of scarabaeine dung beetles. The earliest reliably described scarabaeine fossil appears to beLobateuchus parisii, known from Oise amber (France), which shifts the minimum age of the Scarabaeinae to the Eocene (53 Ma). We scored the best-preserved fossils, namelyLobateuchusand the twoCanthochilumspecies described herein, into the character matrix used in a recent morphology-based study of dung beetles, and then inferred their phylogenetic relationships with Bayesian and parsimony methods. All analyses yielded consistent phylogenies where the two fossilCanthochilumare placed in a clade with the extant species ofCanthochilum, andLobateuchusis recovered in a clade with the extant generaAteuchusandAphengium. Additionally, we evaluated the distribution of dung beetle fossils in the light of current global dung beetle phylogenetic hypotheses, geological time and biogeography. The presence of only extant genera in the late Oligocene and all later records suggests that the main present-day dung beetle lineages had already been established by the late Oligocene–mid Miocene.

scholarly journals A new method to analyze species abundances in space using generalized dimensions

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo A Saravia
Keyword(s):  
Species Abundance ◽  
Abundance Distribution ◽  
Community Patterns ◽  
Information Dimension ◽  
Generalized Dimension ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Species Abundance Distributions ◽  
Species Area ◽  
Generalized Dimensions ◽  
Relationship Of

Species-area relationships (SAR) and species abundance distributions (SAD) are among the most studied patterns in ecology, due to their application to both theoretical and conservation issues. One problem with these general patterns is that different theories can generate the same predictions, and for this reason they cannot be used to detect different mechanisms of community assembly. A solution is to search for more sensitive patterns, for example by extending the SAR to the whole species abundance distribution. A generalized dimension ($D_q$) approach has been proposed to study the scaling of SAD, but to date there has been no evaluation of the ability of this pattern to detect different mechanisms. An equivalent way to express SAD is the rank abundance distribution (RAD). Here I introduce a new way to study SAD scaling using a spatial version of RAD: the species-rank surface (SRS), which can be analyzed using $D_q$. Thus there is an old $D_q$ based on SAR ($D_q^{SAD}$), and a new one based on SRS ($D_q^{SRS}$). I perform spatial simulations to examine the relationship of $D_q$ with SAD, spatial patterns and number of species. Finally I compare the power of both $D_q$, SAD, SAR exponent, and the fractal information dimension to detect different community patterns using a continuum of hierarchical and neutral spatially explicit models. The SAD, $D_q^{SAD}$ and $D_q^{SRS}$ all had good performance in detecting models with contrasting mechanisms. $D_q^{SRS}$, however, had a better fit to data and allowed comparisons between hierarchical communities where the other methods failed. The SAR exponent and information dimension had low power and should not be used. SRS and $D_q^{SRS}$ could be interesting methods to study community or macroecological patterns.

Mites and internal parasites associated with the common dung beetle Geotrupes (Anoplotrupes) stercorosus (Hartmann in Scriba, 1791) in Poland

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Sulgostowska ◽  
Krzysztof Solarz ◽  
Grażyna Madej ◽  
Krzysztof Klimaszewski
Keyword(s):  
Intestinal Parasites ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Internal Parasites ◽  
Eastern Border ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Rich ◽  
June July

AbstractCommon dung beetles collected in the "Sobieski Forest" (eastern border of Warsaw suburbs) were examined for the occurrence and prevalence of infections or infestations with intestinal parasites and phoretic mites in relation to soil characteristics and quality of the forest habitat. Endoparasitic fauna was represented by gregarines Didymophyes paradoxa, microsporidians Plistophora geotrupina and cysticerkoids of 2 tapeworms - Ditestolepis diaphana and Staphylocystis furcate. Prevalence of these infections was higher for beetles collected from rich habitats. Acarofauna was represented by hypopodes of Sancassania geotruporum (Astigmatina, Acaridae) and the following taxa of mesostigmatic mites: Alliphis halleri, Macrocheles glaber, Parasitus coleoptratorum and unidentified juvenile Laelapidae representative. Mites were most abundant in June, July and September. They were only slightly more numerously found on dung beetles from the rich habitats. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling, MDS (2D stress = 0.13) revealed significant similarities in the distribution of mite taxa between poor and rich sites and among the investigated months (June, July and September).

The effects of dung beetle activity on the numbers of parasitic gastrointestinal helminth larvae recovered from pasture samples

1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 161 ◽  
Author(s):  
RP Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Parasitic Nematode ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Percentage Reduction ◽  
Faecal Material ◽  
Gastrointestinal Helminth ◽  
Nematode Eggs ◽  
Cattle Faeces ◽  
Onthophagus Gazella

Studies have been made of the effect of the dung beetle, Onthophagus gazella, on the release of strongyle larvae from cattle faeces onto pasture. A series of faecal pats containing parasitic nematode eggs was placed on pasture, and beetles were added to some pats to give three levels of beetle activity, viz. 100 g, 200-250 g, and 500 g of faeces per pair of beetles. These pats were duplicated on irrigated and non-irrigated pasture. In both cases the numbers of strongyle larvae migrating from pats attacked by dung beetles were significantly less than those migrating from control pats containing no dung beetles. Compared with larval recoveries from control pats, the percentage reduction in numbers of larvae migrating from pats on irrigated pasture was 50% for pats of 100 g faeces per pair of beetles, 48 % for pats of 200-250 g faeces per pair, and 84% for pats of 500 g of faeces per pair. The respective figures for pats on nonirrigated pasture were 76, 86, and 93 % reduction in larval numbers. The results indicated that strongyle larvae migrated from faecal material buried by dung beetles, provided soil moisture was adequate. More larvae were recovered from the pasture surrounding irrigated faecal pats attacked by beetles than from the non-irrigated pats. During warm dry weather, surface faecal debris remaining after beetlc attack appeared to be helminthologically sterile.

scholarly journals Self–organized instability in complex ecosystems

2002 ◽  
Vol 357 (1421) ◽  
pp. 667-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricard V. Solé ◽  
David Alonso ◽  
Alan McKane
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Scaling Law ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Neotropical Forests ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Long Tails ◽  
Critical Boundary ◽  
Species Area

Why are some ecosystems so rich, yet contain so many rare species? High species diversity, together with rarity, is a general trend in neotropical forests and coral reefs. However, the origin of such diversity and the consequences of food web complexity in both species abundances and temporal fluctuations are not well understood. Several regularities are observed in complex, multispecies ecosystems that suggest that these ecologies might be organized close to points of instability. We explore, in greater depth, a recent stochastic model of population dynamics that is shown to reproduce: (i) the scaling law linking species number and connectivity; (ii) the observed distributions of species abundance reported from field studies (showing long tails and thus a predominance of rare species); (iii) the complex fluctuations displayed by natural communities (including chaotic dynamics); and (iv) the species–area relations displayed by rainforest plots. It is conjectured that the conflict between the natural tendency towards higher diversity due to immigration, and the ecosystem level constraints derived from an increasing number of links, leaves the system poised at a critical boundary separating stable from unstable communities, where large fluctuations are expected to occur. We suggest that the patterns displayed by species–rich communities, including rarity, would result from such a spontaneous tendency towards instability.

scholarly journals Assessment of congruence between co-occurrence and functional networks: A new framework for revealing community assembly rules

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Legras ◽  
Nicolas Loiseau ◽  
Jean-Claude Gaertner ◽  
Jean-Christophe Poggiale ◽  
Dino Ienco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Assembly Rules ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Assembly Rule ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
New Framework

AbstractDescribing how communities change over space and time is crucial to better understand and predict the functioning of ecosystems. We propose a new methodological framework, based on network theory and modularity concept, to determine which type of mechanisms (i.e. deterministic versus stochastic processes) has the strongest influence on structuring communities. This framework is based on the computation and comparison of two networks: the co-occurrence (based on species abundances) and the functional networks (based on the species traits values). In this way we can assess whether the species belonging to a given functional group also belong to the same co-occurrence group. We adapted the Dg index of Gauzens et al. (2015) to analyze congruence between both networks. This offers the opportunity to identify which assembly rule(s) play(s) the major role in structuring the community. We illustrate our framework with two datasets corresponding to different faunal groups and ecosystems, and characterized by different scales (spatial and temporal scales). By considering both species abundance and multiple functional traits, our framework improves significantly the ability to discriminate the main assembly rules structuring the communities. This point is critical not only to understand community structuring but also its response to global changes and other disturbances.

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