Wildfires represent an important factor in the disturbance in Mediterranean ecosystems, although the effects of wildfires on the insect communities of mountain environments remain largely unknown. This research investigated the effect of fire on dung beetles in a Mediterranean high-altitude area, located in Central Italy (1500m elevation). Sampling in each of the three main vegetation types of the study area (conifer plantation, beechwood forest and grassland) used pitfall traps during Spring to Autumn. For each habitat, three burnt and three unburnt sites were sampled. We considered the following community structure parameters: abundance, richness, Shannon diversity and Simpson diversity. Effects of fire, habitat and sampling period were investigated using generalised mixed-effects models. Abundance, species richness and diversity were higher in the grassland than in the two forest habitats and June was the month with the lowest values because of the late emergence of insects at high altitudes. Fire negatively affected dung beetle abundance, but not diversity. Forest habitats were less favourable to dung beetle recolonisation than the secondary grassland. Thus, dung beetles are sensitive to vegetation type, but not to fire, possibly because of their high recolonisation capabilities and preference for open habitats.
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.
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