The Global Decline of Dung Beetles

Lumaret, Jean‐Pierre; Kadiri, N.; Martínez‐M, Imelda

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-821139-7.00018-0

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The impact of broad‐spectrum insecticides and pesticides on populations of beneficial dung beetle species is firmly established, for example (Verdú et al, 2020 ), but the indirect effects of veterinary drugs on provisioning functions such as dung degradation has to date been less well explored (Tonelli et al, 2020 ). Due to their increased interactions with dung during manipulation on the surface, and during burial, tunnellers are known to be more susceptible to the effects of veterinary endectocides (e.g., Macrocyclic lactones) and ectocides (e.g., insect growth regulators) (Lumaret et al, 2020 ). Due to the substantial effect tunneling dung beetles have on driving dung degradation in US pastoral systems, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the increasing use of veterinary medicine may, along with the land‐use changes outlined in this study, have synergistic impacts which further impedes ecosystem functioning by the disruption of dung beetle lifecycles and therefore dung removal activity in US grasslands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…well explored (Tonelli et al, 2020). Due to their increased interactions with dung during manipulation on the surface, and during burial, tunnellers are known to be more susceptible to the effects of veterinary endectocides (e.g., Macrocyclic lactones) and ectocides (e.g., insect growth regulators) (Lumaret et al, 2020). Due to the substantial ef- We would also like to thank Gene Lollis and Dr. Elizabeth Boughton of Buck Island Ranch for providing helpful comments which contributed to the formation of this manuscript.…”

Section: Other Factors Affecting Dung Degradation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dung beetle community composition affects dung turnover in subtropical US grasslands

Stanbrook

King

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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1. An important service in many ecosystems is the turnover and degradation of dung deposited by cattle. Dung beetles are the primary group of insects responsible for dung turnover, and factors affecting their abundance and distribution thus impact dung degradation. Lands lost to grazing due to dung buildup and pasture contamination total millions of acres per year in US pastures.2. We evaluated the structural differences in dung beetle assemblages in natural grasslands versus a managed agroecosystem in subtropical southeastern Florida (USA). We measured the direct effect of dung longevity when dung beetle fauna normally inhabiting dung pats were excluded.3. Our results indicate dung beetle abundance, functional diversity, and species richness have a substantial impact on the rate of dung turnover in subtropical pastoral lands with ~70% of dung removed from the soil surface after three months. Functional diversity and evenness did not have a significant positive effect on dung removal in managed, versus natural grasslands demonstrating a strong relationship between dung beetle assemblage composition and delivery of a key ecological process, dung degradation. 4. We suggest the importance of trees, which provide a thermal refuge for beetles, should be dispersed within matrixes of open pasture areas and within proximity to adjacent closed-canopy hammocks to facilitate the exchange of dung beetles between habitats and therefore maintain the provisioning of dung degradation services by dung beetle assemblages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Other Factors Affecting Dung Degradation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dung beetle community composition affects dung turnover in subtropical US grasslands

Stanbrook

King

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Anthropogenic activities such as fragmentation and chemical use have adverse effects on dung beetles' abundance and richness (Lumaret et al., 2022; Martello et al., 2016). In many areas of the world, habitats are becoming increasingly fragmented (Fahrig, 2003), and when fragmentation leads to habitats becoming isolated dung beetles can be impacted (Mbora & Mutua, 2023).…”

Section: Threats To Dung Beetlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of restoration of dung beetles in the maintenance of ecosystem services

Torabian,

Leffler,

Perkins

2024

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Dung beetles have key roles in ecosystems including accelerating dung decomposition, improving nutrient cycling and influencing physical (such as structure) and chemical (such as pH and available nutrients) soil properties. Without dung beetles, dung decomposition slows, nutrient cycling is impaired, and water infiltration decreases. Dung beetles face various threats, including climate change, anthropogenic chemicals and habitat degradation. However, there is limited information on the restoration of dung beetles in areas where they have been lost. The restoration framework utilized in this review considers three primary facets: environmental conditions, which encompass crucial abiotic features; biotic characteristics, which involve all other species; and focal species, which denote all native functional groups of species that require reintroduction or re‐establishment. This review aims to examine the ecosystem services provided by dung beetles, highlight the threats they face and conceptualize a restoration framework for these crucial organisms.

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“…However, human presence can exert a beneficial effect on some species (Gaston, 2005; Luck, 2007), especially when anthropogenic influence is moderate. In the case of dung beetles, a decline in their populations has recently been observed (Lobo et al, 2006; Lumaret et al, 2022; Tonelli et al, 2018) as a consequence of the abandonment of extensive livestock farming and the use of anti‐parasitic treatments in livestock, which are excreted unaltered and poison the beetles (Verdú et al, 2018). However, the close link between these species and the livestock practices in the Mediterranean since the Neolithic (Ethier et al, 2017) must have promoted the expansion of the populations of some species (Kang et al, 2018), but not the disappearance of native dung beetle fauna.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient human colonization explains dung beetle species richness in the Mediterranean and Macaronesian islands

Tonelli,

Dellacasa,

Lobo

2023

Journal of Biogeography

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AimDifferent hypothesis have been proposed to explain differences in species richness among islands. However, few studies have attempted to compare the explanatory power of multiple hypotheses using a large data set. Here, we analyse how different types of predictors (energetic/climatic, environmental heterogeneity, island biogeography and anthropogenic) affect variation in dung beetle species richness on Mediterranean and Macaronesian islands.LocationMediterranean and Macaronesian islands.TaxonDung beetles.MethodsUsing a large data set of islands (n = 147), we extracted the species richness of dung beetles on each island using 362 bibliographic reference sources. We performed GLMs to analyse the relationship between the species richness of dung beetles and 11 explanatory variables (temperature, evapotranspiration, aridity, area, maximum elevation, connection to continent during LGM, geological origin, distance from continent, nearest continent, years since first human colonization and human density) representing four types of causal hypotheses. We also included as a covariate the number of published papers studying dung beetles as a surrogate of the survey/study effort carried out in each island.ResultsGLMs suggest that the years since first human colonization, the number of published papers and island area were the predictors with a higher explanatory capacity. The volcanic character of the islands and the distance from the mainland had some relevance in the case of Scarabaeinae and Geotrupinae, and maximum elevation appeared relevant in the species richness of Scarabaeinae and Aphodiidae. The anthropogenic and island biogeography hypotheses on the variation in species richness were the ones that have the strongest explanatory capacity, regardless of the inclusion of the surrogate of survey effort as a covariate in the models.Main conclusionsThe long history of human movements and agricultural activities has facilitated the colonization of dung beetles and provided trophic resources for their persistence, leading to increased species richness. Thus, the importance of anthropogenic factors in shaping the biodiversity patterns of island biogeography cannot be ignored. These human‐induced influences may play a fundamental role in altering the biogeographic patterns of islands, even overriding the importance of other variables. Consequently, our findings underline the profound impact of historical human actions on islands biodiversity.

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The Global Decline of Dung Beetles

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

Dung beetle community composition affects dung turnover in subtropical US grasslands

Dung beetle community composition affects dung turnover in subtropical US grasslands

Importance of restoration of dung beetles in the maintenance of ecosystem services

Ancient human colonization explains dung beetle species richness in the Mediterranean and Macaronesian islands

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