Can dung beetles (Scarabaeinae) indicate the status of Amazonia’s ecosystems? Insights integrating anthropogenic disturbance with seasonal patterns

Abstract

Temporal and spatial variation in dung beetles abundances is a pattern observed in many tropical forests. The present study evaluated the seasonal patterns of dung beetles in a range of increasingly disturbed ecosystems of the state of Pará, northern Brazil, to identify valuable disturbance indicators. The areas included native forest, agriculture, pasture for extensive livestock grazing and secondary forests. Fieldwork was carried out encompassing the complete range of environmental conditions encountered during the year. In total, 13,649 individuals were captured within 23 genera and 99 species but with pronounced differences among ecosystems and seasons. The obtained results seem to demonstrate that dung beetles can be used to help identify ecosystems under very complex and variable environmental conditions. The ecological drift observed also demonstrates the possibility of using dung beetles as ecological indicators of disturbance in Amazonia.

Conservation value of tropical forests: Distance to human settlements matters more than management in Central Africa

“…On the other hand, insects are key components of tropical forest ecosystems (Nichols et al, 2008). Specifically, dung beetle species are reported as excellent costeffective ecological indicators in tropical biodiversity surveys at various scales (Cajaiba et al, 2017;Gardner et al, 2008;Klein, 1989). They are sensitive to even small disturbances such as reduced-impact or selective logging (Bicknell et al, 2014;Nichols et al, 2007;Nummelin and Hanski, 1989).…”

Taxonomic revision of the batesi species group of Dichotomius Hope, 1838, with the description of three new Amazonian species (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae)

“…Despite the efforts of ecologists in recent years to understand the susceptibility of dung beetles communities to landscape modification and fragmentation in different habitat types in the Amazon rainforest (Klein 1989;Feer 2000;Cajaiba et al 2017a;Jacobs et al 2018;Santos et al 2018), studies on the taxonomy of the Amazonian Dichotomius (along with other dung beetles genera) have not advanced at the same way. The lack of taxonomic information has hampered the process of species identification in these ecological studies (Klein 1989;Feer 2000;Cajaiba et al 2017b;Santos et al 2018), which can lead to negative consequences to species conservation due to underestimation of local richness, and may also limit the inclusion of these species in wider comparative ecological studies.…”