Soil type, vegetation cover and temperature determinants of the diversity and structure of dung beetle assemblages in a South African open woodland and closed canopy mosaic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gimo M. Daniel ◽  
Jorge Ari Noriega ◽  
Pedro G. da Silva ◽  
Christian M. Deschodt ◽  
Catherine L. Sole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Soil Type ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Beetle Assemblages ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Open Woodland

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.

Conversion of Cerrado savannas into exotic pastures: The relative importance of vegetation and food resources for dung beetle assemblages

2020 ◽  
Vol 288 ◽  
pp. 106709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan Macedo ◽  
Livia Dorneles Audino ◽  
Vanesca Korasaki ◽  
Julio Louzada
Keyword(s):  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

scholarly journals The role of habitat and daily activity patterns in explaining the diversity of mountain Neotropical dung beetle assemblages

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-312
Author(s):  
Pedro G. da Silva ◽  
Jorge M. Lobo ◽  
Malva Isabel Medina Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Daily Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Beetle Assemblages ◽  
Daily Activity Patterns

An overview of the South African tangle-veined flies (Diptera: Nemestrinidae), with an annotated key to the genera and a checklist of species

Zootaxa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1277 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. BARRACLOUGH
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Taxonomic Revision ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
African Species ◽  
North West ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Closed Canopy

The South African Nemestrinidae are reviewed. Regional family characteristics, biology and the importance of long-proboscid species in pollination biology are discussed. Long-proboscid species (proboscis 15 mm or longer) are important pollinators in most provinces, but particularly in the Western Cape; all have specialised pollination interactions with long-tubed flower species. Five pollination guilds centered on long-proboscid species are briefly discussed.        A detailed, annotated key to the six genera is presented; in it particular attention is given to the problematic distinction between Prosoeca Schiner and Stenobasipteron Lichtwardt. A checklist of all described species considered to have a South African provenance is provided. A total of 43 described species is recorded in the following genera: Moegistorhynchus Macquart (4 species); Prosoeca (35 species); Stenobasipteron (1 species); Atriadops Wandolleck (1 species); Nycterimyia Lichtwardt (1 species); Trichopsidea Westwood (1 species).        Moegistorhynchus is restricted to the west coast (Western Cape, Northern Cape). Three of its species have a remarkably elongate proboscis, the best known and most widespread being M. longirostris (Wiedemann, 1819). Its proboscis reaches 90 to 100 mm in length in some specimens, this being the longest proboscis of all known Diptera. Two new species have been identified in the fauna.        Prosoeca dominates the fauna, and is the only genus likely to be represented in all nine provinces. It appears to occur in all habitats except closed-canopy forest. Prosoeca major Bezzi, 1924 is newly synonymised with P. robusta Bezzi, 1924. The likely South African provenance of P. nigripes (Macquart, 1840) is confirmed. Nemestrina obscura Westwood, 1835, previously referred to Prosoeca, is considered not to be an Afrotropical species. Prosoeca rhodesiensis Bequaert, 1925a, is recorded from South Africa for the first time.        Although Stenobasipteron is restricted to only one named South African species, namely S. wiedemanni Lichtwardt, 1910 from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, several undescribed species occur in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Stenobasipteron wiedemanni occurs in closed-canopy forest, but species from Mpumalanga may occur in other habitats such as grassland and savanna.        There are at least two species of Atriadops, one almost certainly being A. vespertilio (Loew, 1858). The genus is recorded from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. A taxonomic revision is recommended. Nycterimyia is represented by one species only, namely N. capensis Bezzi, 1924 from KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. Trichopsidea is represented by one species, T. costata (Loew, 1858), recorded from North West, Gauteng and Limpopo.

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