Grado de cobertura del muestreo de escarabajos coprófagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) en Colombia

Abstract

Estimation of the sampling cover for dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in Colombia. The promotion of biodiversity conservation strategies must address the lack of information and the difficulty of identifying knowledge gaps that may facilitate our knowledge of different taxonomic groups. Dung beetles constitute one of those groups, despite having been proposed as an efficient bioindicator of environmental disturbance processes. In this work, we aimed to prepare a diagnosis on the state of knowledge of the subfamily Scarabaeinae, focusing on the cover sampling degree of this group in Colombia, with the purpose of identifying high-priority areas that will allow the completion of a national inventory. The work consisted of a bibliographical compilation using 12 referential databases and the examination of specimens deposited in 26 national collections. A total of 16 940 individuals were examined, finding registers for 232 species from 386 localities. The respective distribution cover maps were presented, and the cover at a national level was 10.62%. A historical analysis demonstrated a proliferation in the number of studies for the last three decades; nevertheless, a great proportion of unpublished works persists, resulting in only 64 sampled localities with published records. The localities with the greatest sampling efforts were RN La Planada, Lloro, AUN Los Estoraques, PNN Tinigua and Mariquita. Registries for all departments were available, and the best sampled ones were Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca and Boyaca. The ecosystems with the greatest number of publications are the Andean pre mountain humid forest, followed by the Andean mountain humid forest and the Pacific humid forest. Other ecosystems with few studies included mangroves, desert zones, natural savannahs, palm swamps, paramos, flooding forests and agroforestry systems. The biogeographic region with the greatest number of localities was the Andean region, followed by Choco-Magdalenense and Amazonia. Our results showed that high levels of subsampling persist and that some zones lack registries, as in the case of some parks of the national system of protected areas. It is imperative that the sampling cover is extended at a national level, focusing all possible efforts on collecting in those subsampled regions that have high conservation importance, with the main goal of completing the listing of species and their distribution. Rev. Biol. Trop. 63 (1): 97-125. Epub 2015 March 01.

Human perturbations reduce dung beetle diversity and dung removal ecosystem function

“…These study areas were established at the following locations: (1) Caribbean -in the private reserve 74. ). Each of these regions has a different degree of sampling coverage of dung beetles (i.e., amount of sampling sites and number of published studies) that was taken into account as a reference standard (Noriega et al, 2015).…”

Diversity of the dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in an altitudinal gradient in the east slope of los Andes, Napo province, Ecuador

“…Currently, they account for more than 6000 species distributed within 250 genera worldwide [11,12], and 2000 species in 91 genera in the Neotropics [13]. However, there are still many areas that haven't been sampled or that need more detailed catalogs [14,15]. This is especially true for altitudinal gradients in South America, and in particular for the Andean Mountains, for which very few countries in the region present complete surveys (Bolivia [16]; Brazil [17]; Colombia [18][19][20][21][22]; Ecuador [23]; Ecuador-Perú [24]; Perú [25,26]).…”

Variación en las abundancias de Homocopris achamas (Harold, 1867) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) en el páramo de Rabanal, Boyacá-Colombia / Variation in the Abundances of Homocopris achamas (Harold, 1867) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in the Rabanal Paramo, Boyacá-Colombia

“…En particular, el conocimiento acerca de los escarabajos coprófagos de los páramos en Colombia es insuficiente y limitado; estos ambientes son uno de los ecosistemas que se consideran poco muestreados, para el caso de este taxón [14]. Dentro de los estudios llevados a cabo se encuentran los realizados por Escobar [15], que cita seis especies en alturas mayores a 2250 m; Medina et al [16], quien adiciona dos especies más por encima de los 2800 m, y Martínez-Revelo & Lopera [17], quienes reportan ocho especies de escarabajos coprófagos para los pá-ramos de Nariño, incluyendo Homocopris achamas.…”