Elevational Distribution and Conservation Biogeography of Phanaeine Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in Bolivia

Abstract

Insect macroecology and conservation biogeography studies are disproportionately scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Dung beetles are an ideal focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Using distribution and body size data on the ecologically important Phanaeini, the best-known Neotropical dung beetle tribe, we determined elevational patterns of species richness, endemism, body size, and elevational range in Bolivia, specifically testing Bergmann’s and Rapoport’s rule. Richness of all 39 species and of 15 ecoregional endemics showed a hump-shaped pattern peaking at 400 m, but overall declined strongly with elevation up to 4000 m. The relationship between endemic and total species richness appeared to be curvilinear, providing only partial support for the null hypothesis that species-rich areas are more likely to be centers of endemism by chance alone. An elevational increase in the proportion of ecoregional endemics suggests that deterministic factors also appear to influence endemism in the Andes. When controlling for the effect of area using different species-area relationships, the statistically significant richness peak became more pronounced and shifted upslope to 750 m. Larger species did not have higher elevational mid-points, and mean body size decreased significantly with elevation, contradicting Bergmann’s rule. Rapoport’s rule was supported: species with higher elevational mid-points had broader elevational ranges, and mean elevational range increased significantly with elevation. The elevational decrease of phanaeine richness is in accordance with studies that demonstrated the combined influence of temperature and water availability on species diversity, but also is consistent with niche conservatism. For invertebrates, confirmation of Rapoport’s and refutation of Bergmann’s rule appear to be scale-invariant general patterns. Analyses of biogeographic patterns across elevational gradients can provide important insights for identifying conservation priorities. Phanaeines with narrow elevational ranges on isolated low-elevation mountains in eastern Bolivia are at greatest climate-change related extinction risk from range-shift gaps and mountaintop extinctions.

Moth body size increases with elevation along a complete tropical elevational gradient for two hyperdiverse clades

“…In the Andes in Ecuador, no significant change in FWLs was found for Geometridae (males) between 1000 and 2700 m a.s.l., with idiosyncratic results for subordinate taxa (Brehm and Fiedler 2004). In contrast to our results, Guevara and Avilés (2007) documented decreasing body sizes of several insect groups along an elevational gradient in Ecuador; Kubota et al (2007) found decreasing body sizes in tephretid flies with increasing elevation in Brazil; Dillon et al (2006) concluded that insects living at higher elevations do not tend to have larger body sizes; Herzog et al (2013) found decreasing body size patterns of phanaeine dung beetles in Bolivia with increasing elevation; and Hawkins and DeVries (1996) found that Costa Rican butterflies showed no general body size trends with elevation. In contrast to our results, Guevara and Avilés (2007) documented decreasing body sizes of several insect groups along an elevational gradient in Ecuador; Kubota et al (2007) found decreasing body sizes in tephretid flies with increasing elevation in Brazil; Dillon et al (2006) concluded that insects living at higher elevations do not tend to have larger body sizes; Herzog et al (2013) found decreasing body size patterns of phanaeine dung beetles in Bolivia with increasing elevation; and Hawkins and DeVries (1996) found that Costa Rican butterflies showed no general body size trends with elevation.…”

Climate rather than dung resources predict dung beetle abundance and diversity along elevational and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro

“…Chamberlain et al, ; Nunes et al, ). However, hump‐shaped distributions of dung beetle diversity along elevation have also been observed (Herzog et al, ). For Scarabaeinae dung beetles, we recorded the highest species at 2,260 m ( Onthophagus incantatus ) while the highest Aphodiinae dung beetles were found at 2,770 m ( Bodilus vittifer , Neocolobopterus stefenellii ), patterns which reflect elevational distributions of dung beetles on other African mountains (Davis, Scholtz, & Chown, ; Muhirwa, Maniragaba, Maniragaba, & Kaplin, ).…”

Butterfly diversity along the elevation gradient of Eastern Himalaya, India

“…The factors such as contemporary climate and productivity (Rosenzweig 1995;Fu et al 2007;Rowe 2009;Wang et al 2009;Whittaker 2010;Acharya et al 2011a), evolutionary history (Whittaker 2010;Machac et al 2011), area (Rahbek 1997;Herzog et al 2005;Romdal and Grytnes 2007) and geometric constraints (Colwell et al 2004;McCain 2004;Brehm et al 2007;Rowe 2009) are the most commonly discussed drivers of the elevational diversity gradients. However, the generality of the pattern across taxa and region, and the consensus on underlying mechanisms for the pattern has remained controversial and is much argued and discussed topic in spatial ecology (Oommen and Shanker 2005;Jankowski et al 2012;Sanders and Rahbek 2012;Eisenlohr et al 2013;Herzog et al 2013).…”