The roles of beetles and flies in yak dung removal in an alpine meadow of eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wu, Xinwei; Sun, Shucun

doi:10.2980/17-2-3319

Cited by 36 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In the present study, we found that frogs can strongly suppress densities of detritivores, which consisted mostly of beetles and flies (this study; Wu & Sun, 2010), and this can be ascribed to several factors. First, R. kukunoris like many other species of Rana (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Possibly because of the high density of cattle dung (5900 pats per hectare in a large scale (>10 ha) as the highest recorded; Wu & Sun, 2010), the species responsible for dung decomposition are highly diverse and abundant. The functional community includes a diverse detritivore assemblage, including beetles, flies, ants and earthworms.…”

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Zhang et al 2010). have shown that adult frogs prefer to forage in the sites where dung pats were abundant, and they are efficient in feeding on coleopterans and dipterans (more than 41% and 31% in number, respectively; Zhang et al 2010), which are responsible for dung removal in this alpine grassland (Wu & Sun, 2010).…”

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predaceous invertebrates include beetles such as Philonthus rubripennis and Sphaerites sp. At the very late successional stage of dung decomposition, spiders (Araneus marmoreus), centipedes (Scolopendra alternans), and beetle larvae emerge underneath the dung (Wu & Sun, 2010).…”

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Tibetan alpine meadows, the adults of a frog species (Rana kukunoris) is widespread (particularly in low-lying wet areas) and are known to feed upon herbivores, potentially enhancing plant growth in the meadows. However, this species is a generalist insectivore, also known to prey heavily on detritivores such as dung beetles and flies (Zhang, Li, Dai, & Wang, 2010), both of which can facilitate plant growth by enhancing dung removal rate and soil nutrient availability (see review by Nichols et al 2008;Wu & Sun, 2010). We therefore hypothesized that R. kukunoris may have an indirect negative effect on plant biomass via the P-D-P pathway.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The brown-world role of insectivores: Frogs reduce plant growth by suppressing detritivores in an alpine meadow

Zhang²,

Griffin

et al. 2014

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Site and Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The brown-world role of insectivores: Frogs reduce plant growth by suppressing detritivores in an alpine meadow

Zhang²,

Griffin

et al. 2014

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Invertebrate herbivory accelerates shift towards forbs caused by warming in a sedge‐dominated alpine meadow

et al. 2022

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Invertebrate herbivory is suggested to modulate community shifts caused by climate warming in grasslands. However, experimental evidence is lacking, especially in high elevation areas. We examined the interactive effect of experimental warming and the grassland caterpillar Gynaephora alpherakjj, a typical invertebrate herbivorous insect with sedge preference, on the structure of plant community in a sedge-dominated alpine meadow in the Tibetan Plateau. We manipulated both herbivore and temperature in a full factorial field experiment using passive warming chambers over one plant-growing season. Results show that simulated warming significantly increased the aboveground plant biomass (APB) of forbs and total APB, while the presence of caterpillars significantly decreased sedge APB and total APB. The increase in consumption of sedges by caterpillars under warmed conditions can largely be ascribed to the increase in feeding time of caterpillars. Importantly, the presence of caterpillars significantly decreased the APB ratio of sedges to forbs in the warmed but not in the unwarmed chambers. These results suggest that with a warming climate, invertebrate herbivory could accelerate community shifts from sedge dominance to forb dominance in only one plant-growing season in the Tibetan alpine meadow. This shift would reduce the biomass of high-quality forage and further threaten animal husbandry in this area. Considering the harm of G. alpherakjj to grasslands, its population should be controlled more strictly under the global warming scenario.

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A four‐country ring test of nontarget effects of ivermectin residues on the function of coprophilous communities of arthropods in breaking down livestock dung

Tixier

Blanckenhorn²,

Lahr³

et al. 2016

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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By degrading the dung of livestock that graze on pastures, coprophilous arthropods accelerate the cycling of nutrients to maintain pasture quality. Many veterinary medicinal products, such as ivermectin, are excreted unchanged in the dung of treated livestock. These residues can be insecticidal and may reduce the function (i.e., dung-degradation) of the coprophilous community. In the present study, we used a standard method to monitor the degradation of dung from cattle treated with ivermectin. The present study was performed during a 1-yr period on pastures in Canada, France, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. Large effects of residue were detected on the coprophilous community, but degradation of dung was not significantly hampered. The results emphasize that failure to detect an effect of veterinary medicinal product residues on dung-degradation does not mean that the residues do not affect the coprophilous community. Rather, insect activity is only one of many factors that affect degradation, and these other factors may mask the nontarget effect of residues. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1953-1958. © 2015 SETAC.

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The roles of beetles and flies in yak dung removal in an alpine meadow of eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Cited by 36 publications

References 39 publications

The brown-world role of insectivores: Frogs reduce plant growth by suppressing detritivores in an alpine meadow

The brown-world role of insectivores: Frogs reduce plant growth by suppressing detritivores in an alpine meadow

Invertebrate herbivory accelerates shift towards forbs caused by warming in a sedge‐dominated alpine meadow

A four‐country ring test of nontarget effects of ivermectin residues on the function of coprophilous communities of arthropods in breaking down livestock dung

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