Morphometric investigation of adult dung beetles in Hassan district of Karnataka

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.

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Bioethanolic yeasts from dung beetles: tapping the potential of extremophilic yeasts for improvement of lignocellulolytic feedstock fermentation

Biotechnology for Biofuels ◽

10.1186/s13068-021-01940-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anita Ejiro Nwaefuna ◽

Karl Rumbold ◽

Teun Boekhout ◽

Nerve Zhou

Keyword(s):

Treatment Process ◽

Dung Beetles ◽

Production Costs ◽

Industrial Wastes ◽

Major Drawback ◽

Renewable Fuel ◽

Extreme Stress ◽

Pre Treatment ◽

The Cost ◽

Simultaneous Saccharification

AbstractBioethanol from abundant and inexpensive agricultural and industrial wastes possesses the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bioethanol as renewable fuel addresses elevated production costs, as well as food security concerns. Although technical advancements in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation have reduced the cost of production, one major drawback of this technology is that the pre-treatment process creates environmental stressors inhibitory to fermentative yeasts subsequently reducing bioethanol productivity. Robust fermentative yeasts with extreme stress tolerance remain limited. This review presents the potential of dung beetles from pristine and unexplored environments as an attractive source of extremophilic bioethanolic yeasts. Dung beetles survive on a recalcitrant lignocellulose-rich diet suggesting the presence of symbiotic yeasts with a cellulolytic potential. Dung beetles inhabiting extreme stress environments have the potential to harbour yeasts with the ability to withstand inhibitory environmental stresses typically associated with bioethanol production. The review further discusses established methods used to isolate bioethanolic yeasts, from dung beetles.

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Vertical stratification of dung beetles in young secondary forests of Singapore

Biotropica ◽

10.1111/btp.13000 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ita Liana Abdul Rahman ◽

Sean Yap ◽

Thary Gazi Goh ◽

Kai Xin Toh ◽

Qian Qi Hillary Yee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dung Beetles ◽

Vertical Stratification ◽

Secondary Forests

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Malnutrition and parasitism shape ecosystem services provided by dung beetles

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107205 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 121 ◽

pp. 107205

Author(s):

Mariana Servín-Pastor ◽

Renato Portela Salomão ◽

Francisco Caselín-Cuevas ◽

Alex Córdoba-Aguilar ◽

Mario E. Favila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Dung Beetles

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Geometric morphometric investigation of craniofacial morphological change in domesticated silver foxes

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82111-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Timothy M. Kistner ◽

Katherine D. Zink ◽

Steven Worthington ◽

Daniel E. Lieberman

Keyword(s):

Three Dimensional ◽

Cranial Base ◽

Craniofacial Morphology ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Linear Measurements ◽

Skeletal Morphology ◽

Geometric Morphometric ◽

Domestication Syndrome ◽

Morphometric Investigation ◽

Unselected Population

AbstractTo test the effects of domestication on craniofacial skeletal morphology, we used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics (GM) along with linear and endocranial measurements to compare selected (domesticated) and unselected foxes from the Russian Farm-Fox Experiment to wild foxes from the progenitor population from which the farmed foxes are derived. Contrary to previous findings, we find that domesticated and unselected foxes show minimal differences in craniofacial shape and size compared to the more substantial differences between the wild foxes and both populations of farmed foxes. GM analyses and linear measurements demonstrate that wild foxes differ from farmed foxes largely in terms of less cranial base flexion, relatively expanded cranial vaults, and increased endocranial volumes. These results challenge the assumption that the unselected population of foxes kept as part of the Russian Farm-Fox experiment are an appropriate proxy for ‘wild’ foxes in terms of craniofacial morphology and highlight the need to include wild populations in further studies of domestication syndrome to disentangle the phenotypic effects of multiple selection pressures. These findings also suggest that marked increases in docility cannot be reliably diagnosed from shape differences in craniofacial skeletal morphology.

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