-The spatial changes in species composition are closely related to the environmental aspects associated to habitat variation. The natural landscapes of Minas Gerais are organized in mosaics, associated to anthropic action or natural factors. Here we study dung beetles in the Perdizes Plateau, Carrancas (Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil). The area of study has a landscape composed mainly by four phytophysiognomies: Brazilian savannah, altitudinal grasslands, rupestrian fi elds and forests. The objective of our study was to detect the spatial distribution in composition of dung beetles and estimate beta diversity between phytophysiognomies. The dung beetles were collected in four areas of each phytophysiognomy, using pitfall traps baited with carrion or human feces. A total of 2,363 individuals of 52 species were collected: 1,247 individuals of 29 species at the forest, 20 exclusive to this phytophysiognomy; 352 individuals of 17 species at the grassland, with four exclusive species; 386 individuals of 19 species at the Brazilian savannah, with fi ve exclusive species; and 378 individuals of 20 species at the rupestrian fi eld, with fi ve exclusive species. The traps baited with feces were the most effi cient in capturing dung beetles, and the forest was the phytophysiognomy with the highest diversity and abundance. This pattern indicates that plant-covering infl uences the structure of the dung beetle community. High beta diversity indicates that phytophysiognomies are complementary. However, the other phytophysiognomies are also important for conservation, once species composition occurring at each environment is essential for the maintenance of the regional diversity.KEY WORDS: Spatial distribution, dung beetle, diversity, ecology RESUMO -As mudanças espaciais da composição de espécies estão ligadas a aspectos ambientais da variação dos habitats. As paisagens naturais de Minas Gerais são organizadas em mosaicos criados pela ação antrópica ou por fatores naturais. O estudo realizou-se com escarabeíneos na Chapada das Perdizes, município de Carrancas, MG. A região apresenta quatro fi tofi sionomias principais: campo de cerrado, campo limpo, fl oresta e campo rupestre. O objetivo do estudo foi detectar diferenças na distribuição dos escarabeíneos e avaliar a diversidade beta (dissimilaridade de espécies) entre as fi tofi sionomias. Os escarabeíneos foram coletados com armadilhas do tipo alçapão, com isca de baço de boi ou fezes humanas, em quatro áreas de cada fi tofi sionomia. Foram coletados 2.363 indivíduos de 52 espécies: 1.247 indivíduos de 29 espécies na fl oresta, sendo 20 exclusivas dessa fi tofi sionomia; 352 indivíduos de 17 espécies no campo limpo, com quatro espécies exclusivas; 386 indivíduos de 19 espécies no campo de cerrado, com cinco espécies exclusivas; e 378 indivíduos de 20 espécies no campo rupestre, com cinco espécies exclusivas. A armadilha com fezes foi a mais efi ciente na captura e a fl oresta foi a fi tofi sionomia com maior diversidade e abundância de escarabeíneos. Isso suger...

-We aimed to compare the soil ant diversity in different land use systems from Atlantic Forest area, in Southern Bahia state, Brazil. The ants were sampled in 16 sites: two primary forest sites (un-logged forest); three young secondary forests (<8 years old); three intermediate secondary forests (8-20 years old); three old secondary forests (>20 years old); three Eucalyptus grandis plantations (3-7 years old), and two introduced pastures. Each site was sampled in three sampling points 15 m apart, and distant over 50 m from the site edge. In each sampling point we gathered the litter from a 1 m 2 and extracted the ants with Winkler extractors during 48h. We found 103 ant species from 29 genera and eight subfamilies. The fi ve richest genera were Pheidole (19 species), Solenopsis (8), Apterostigma (10), Hypoponera (7) e Paratrechina (5). The highest ant richness density was found in the primary forest (7.4 species/sample; S = 37; n = 5); followed by the old secondary forest (5.33 species/sample; S = 48; n = 9); young secondary forest (5.25 species/sample; S = 42, n = 8); eucalyptus plantation (4.22 species/sample; S = 38, n = 9), intermediate secondary forest (3.5 species/sample; S = 35, n = 10, and introduced pasture (2.67 species/sample; S = 16, n = 6). The ecosystems with higher structural complexity showed the highest ant richness density by sample. Therefore, in the Atlantic Forest region, the eucalyptus plantation is a better alternative of land use to conserve the ant biodiversity than pastures, and quite similar to native secondary forests in ant community characteristics.

RESUMO:A implantação de Unidades de Conservação tem sido uma das melhores formas de conservação da biodiversidade. Regiões de maiores altitudes como as da Serra de Carrancas e Luminárias, em Minas Gerais, possuem características físicas e bióticas que fazem destes ambientes detentores de espécies endêmicas e alta biodiversidade. Entretanto, são ambientes altamente susceptíveis aos processos erosivos acelerados, o que ocasiona a perda de solo, hábitat e espécies. Objetivou-se, com o presente estudo, avaliar as características físicas e bióticas da região da Serra de Carrancas e Luminárias através de indicadores da Vulnerabilidade Natural e propor a implantação de uma Unidade de Conservação em regiões que são, consideradas por este índice, locais de elevada importância ambiental e que são altamente sensíveis às ações antrópicas. Os indicadores bióticos e abióticos gerenciados em um sistema de informações geográfi cas delimitaram áreas de maior vulnerabilidade na área de estudo e, devido à sensibilidade e abrangência áreas de maior vulnerabilidade na área de estudo e, devido à sensibilidade e abrangência da Serra de Carrancas e Luminárias, foi proposta a implantação de um Parque Estadual. O índice de vulnerabilidade natural se mostrou uma ferramenta efi ciente na indicação de áreas a serem conservadas, reunindo fatores ambientais importantes, aumentando a efi ciência das estratégias de conservação.Palavras-chave: SIG, Zoneamento Ecológico Econômico, biodiversidade, indicador. VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF CONSERVATION UNITS IN THE SERRA DE CARRANCAS MICROREGION, MG

ABSTRACT. The Caatinga is an endemic and threatened dry-forest biome distributed across northern Brazil. We evaluated the conservation value of a Caatinga Natural Reserve (NR) -Floresta Nacional (FLONA) Contendas do Sincorá -using Scarabaeinae dung beetles as a biodiversity indicator. Specifi cally, we contrasted two zones impacted by two distinct intensity of selective logging that happened inside the NR until 1997. Dung beetles were collected 14 years after logging, using baited pitfall traps within three main habitats (riparian forest, regenerating Caatinga or arboreal Caatinga) found in two zones (Preservation and Management Zones). A total of 1,214 individuals from 21 species were sampled. The two zones presented distinct species composition, although the habitats did not exhibit such diff erences. Our results indicated that the secondary areas are in a conservation status similar to arboreal Caatinga and riparian forest, 14 y after logging. Furthermore, we identifi ed seven habitat-indicator species, two of them typical to Caatinga biome, highlighting the importance of updates in NR management plan considering the Scarabaeinae regional diversity management. KEYWORDS.Floresta Nacional Contendas do Sincorá, xerophyte vegetation, management plan, Scarabaeinae.RESUMO. Escarabeíneos em uma Unidade de Conservação da Caatinga: uma fl oresta seca brasileira com alto valor biológico. A Caatinga é um bioma endêmico e ameaçado de fl oresta seca distribuída ao longo do Nordeste do Brasil. Nós avaliamos a importância conservacionista da unidade de conservação (UC) Floresta Nacional (FLONA) Contendas do Sincorá -utilizando besouros escarabeíneos como indicador da biodiversidade. Especifi camente, nós contrastamos duas zonas com diferentes intensidades de impacto por corte seletivo que ocorreu no território da UC até 1997. Os besouros foram coletados 14 anos após o término o corte seletivo, através de armadilhas tipo pitfall iscadas, em três habitats principais da UC (mata ciliar, Caatinga em regeneração e Caatinga arbórea) encontrados em duas zonas (Zona de Preservação e de Manejo). Um total de 1.214 indivíduos de 21 espécies foi amostrados. As duas zonas apresentaram composições de espécies distintas, entretanto os habitats não apresentaram tais diferenças. Nossos resultados indicam que as áreas secundárias estão em um estado de conservação similares às de Caatinga arbórea e mata ciliar após 14 anos de corte. Além disso, nós identifi camos sete espécies indicadoras de habitat, duas delas típicas do bioma da Caatinga, destacando a importância de reformulação do plano de manejo da UC considerando a manutenção da diversidade regional dos Scarabaeinae. PALAVRAS-CHAVE.Floresta Nacional Contendas do Sincorá, vegetação xerófi ta, plano de manejo, Scarabaeinae.

No abstract

Se proponen posibles relaciones entre el comportamiento de percheo, forrajeo arbóreo y forésia de escarabajos coprófagos con mamíferos arbóreos. Se presentan nuevos datos y los datos conocidos hasta ahora sobro forrajeo arbóreo de especies de escarabatos estercoleros de bosques tropicales. Se capturaron Canthon (Glaphyrocanthon) sp., Sylvicanthon foveiventre (Schmidt, 1934), Parahyboma furcatum (Laporte, 1840) y Canthidium sp. en trampas cebadas con heces humanas y carroña colocadas a una altura de 10 m en el Bosque Atántico Semidecíduo en Vicosa, estado de Minas Gerais, sureste del Brasil.

The present work refers to the study of colonization of four vegetation physiognomies considered as succession stages by Scarabaeidae beetles in Feira de Santana, Brazil. The four environments present structures of 1) herbs, 2) herbs and bushes, 3) bushes, and 4) bushes and trees. The last one has similar vegetation elements to the original vegetation of the area (Caatinga, in transition with deciduous forest). Beetles’ richness was not statistically different in the three structurally simpler habitats, the composition, as well as the abundance structure of the communities of the four sites were very similar. Guild structure changed in number and proportion of specimens, with an increase in the number of tunnelers as the vegetation grew in complexity. The positive/negatives effects on the composition and beetles’s community structure were related to the interference with the dissemination of odor plumes or maintenance of sources of resources (vertebrates). The organization of the functional structure in the beetles’ community should be related to the time needed for the establishment of complex ecological connections.

Species relative abundance (SRA) is an essential attribute of biotic communities, which can provide an accurate description of community structure. However, the sampling method used may have a direct influence on SRA quantification, since the use of attractants (e.g., baits, light, and pheromones) can introduce additional sources of variation in trap performance. We tested how sampling aided by baits affect community data and therefore alter derived metrics. We tested our hypothesis on dung beetles using data from flight interception traps (FITs) as a baseline to evaluate baited pitfall trap performance. Our objective was to assess the effect of bait attractiveness on estimates of SRA and assemblage metrics when sampled by pitfall traps baited with human feces.Dung beetles were sampled at three terra firme primary forest sites in the Brazilian Amazon. To achieve our objective, we (i) identified species with variable levels of attraction to pitfall baited with human feces; (ii) assessed differences in SRA; and (iii) assessed the effect of bait on the most commonly used diversity metrics derived from relative abundance (Shannon and Simpson indices). We identified species less and highly attracted to the baits used, because most attracted species showed greater relative abundances within baited pitfall traps samples compared with our baseline. Assemblages sampled by baited pitfall traps tend to show lower diversity