Landscape effects on taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetle assemblages in a highly fragmented tropical forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 496 ◽  
pp. 119390
Author(s):  
Jose D. Rivera ◽  
Pedro Giovâni da Silva ◽  
Mario E. Favila
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Landscape Effects ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

scholarly journals Mechanisms of diversity maintenance in dung beetle assemblages in a heterogeneous tropical landscape

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9860
Author(s):  
Jose D. Rivera ◽  
Benigno Gómez ◽  
Darío A. Navarrete-Gutiérrez ◽  
Lorena Ruíz-Montoya ◽  
Leonardo Delgado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Beta Diversity ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Biosphere Reserve ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

Background Anthropized landscapes play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation, as they encompass about 90% of the remaining tropical forest. Effective conservation strategies require a deep understanding of how anthropic disturbances determine diversity patterns across these landscapes. Here, we evaluated how attributes and assembly mechanisms of dung beetle communities vary across the Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserve (REBISO) landscape. Methods Community attributes (species diversity, abundance, and biomass) were assessed at the landscape scale, using spatial windows and vegetation classes. Windows were categorized as intact, variegated, or fragmented based on their percent cover of tropical forest. The vegetation classes analyzed were tropical forest, second-growth forest, and pastures. Results We collected 15,457 individuals and 55 species. Variegated windows, tropical forests, and second-growth forests showed the highest diversity values, while the lowest values were found in intact windows and pastures. Landscape fragmentation was positively and strongly related to dung beetle diversity and negatively related to their abundance; biomass was positively associated with forest cover. Beta diversity was the primary driver of the high dung beetle diversity in the landscape analyzed. Discussion The landscape heterogeneity and its biodiversity-friendly matrix facilitate the complementarity of dung beetle assemblages in the Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserve. Random processes govern beta diversity patterns in intact and variegated windows. Therefore, vegetation cover in the region is sufficient to maintain a continuous flow of dung beetles between forested landscape segments. However, intense anthropic disturbances acted as deterministic environmental filters in fragmented windows and pastures sites, leading to biotic homogenization processes. Our results suggest that increasing habitat variegation in highly fragmented sites is an effective strategy to prevent or buffer homogenization processes in the REBISO landscape.

Variations in dung beetle assemblages across a gradient of hunting in a tropical forest

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 164-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Feer ◽  
Olivier Boissier
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

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 disturbance intensity on species and functional diversity in a tropical forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 1453-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geovana Carreño-Rocabado ◽  
Marielos Peña-Claros ◽  
Frans Bongers ◽  
Alfredo Alarcón ◽  
Juan-Carlos Licona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Disturbance Intensity

Trap type affects dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity in Bornean tropical forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Rui Ong ◽  
David Hemprich‐Bennett ◽  
Claudia L. Gray ◽  
Victoria Kemp ◽  
Arthur Y. C. Chung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Dung Beetle

scholarly journals Edge effects alter the role of fungi and insects in mediating functional composition and diversity of seedling recruits in a fragmented tropical forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (7) ◽  
pp. 1181-1191
Author(s):  
Meghna Krishnadas ◽  
Kavya Agarwal ◽  
Liza S Comita
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Seed Size ◽  
Wood Density ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Forest Fragments

Abstract Background and Aims In fragmented forests, proximity to forest edges can favour the establishment of resource-acquisitive species over more resource-conservative species. During seedling recruitment, resource-acquisitive species may benefit from either higher light availability or weaker top-down effects of natural enemies. The relative importance of light and enemies for recruitment has seldom been examined with respect to edge effects. Methods In a human-modified wet tropical forest in India, we first examined how functional traits indicative of resource-acquisitive vs. resource-conservative strategies, i.e. specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content, wood density and seed size, explained interspecific differences in densities of seedling recruits with distance to the forest edge. Then, we checked whether fungicide and insecticide treatments and canopy openness (proxy for light availability) explained edge effects on trait-mediated changes in seedling density. Finally, we examined whether light availability and natural enemy activity explained edge effects on functional diversity of seedling recruits. Key Results Up to 60 m from edges, recruit densities increased with decreasing seed size, but not at 90–100 m, where recruit densities increased with higher SLA. Trait-mediated variation in recruit densities changed with pesticides only at 90–100 m: compared with control plots, fungicide increased recruit densities for low SLA species and insecticide increased smaller seeded species. For SLA, wood density and seed size, functional diversity of recruits was higher at 90–100 m than at 0–5 m. At 90–100 m, fungicide decreased functional diversity for SLA and insecticide reduced seed size diversity compared with control plots. Canopy openness explained neither variation in recruit density in relation to traits nor functional diversity. Conclusions Altered biotic interactions can mediate local changes to trait composition and functional diversity during seedling recruitment in forest fragments, hinting at downstream effects on the structure and function of human-modified forests.

Response of dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity to livestock grazing in an arid ecosystem

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste Beatriz Guerra Alonso ◽  
Gustavo Andrés Zurita ◽  
Maria Isabel Bellocq
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Arid Ecosystem

scholarly journals Variation in hydroclimate sustains tropical forest biomass and promotes functional diversity

2018 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 932-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Powell ◽  
Charles D. Koven ◽  
Daniel J. Johnson ◽  
Boris Faybishenko ◽  
Rosie A. Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Forest Biomass
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document