Dataset Information

Annual Abundance and Population Structure of Two Dung Beetle Species in a Human-Modified Landscape.

ABSTRACT: Population studies are essential for understanding different aspects of species' biology, estimating extinction probability, and determining evolutionary and life history. Using the mark-recapture method, we studied the abundance and population structure of dung beetle species (Deltochilum mexicanum and Dichotomius satanas) over one year in a human-modified landscape in Mexico. We captured 1960 individuals with a net recapture rate of 11%. Deltochilum mexicanum had a higher rate of recapture (14%) than Dichotomius satanas (5%). Annual variation in abundance was similar for both species, with maximum abundance occurring in summer and a marked reduction during winter. Deltochilum mexicanum was dominant inside the forest, and its abundance was influenced by vegetation cover, temperature, and humidity. Dichotomius satanas was more frequent outside the forest, and none of the considered environmental variables affected its abundance. The adult sex ratio of Deltochilum mexicanum was female-biased, whereas that of Dichotomius satanas was male-biased. The maximum estimated population size was similar for both species, but Deltochilum mexicanum had a higher number of new individuals and survival rate. Since species with different biological attributes presented a similar pattern of abundance and population structure, we conclude that environmental conditions are the main regulator of dung beetle populations in the human-modified landscape.

SUBMITTER: Barretto JW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6358878 | biostudies-other | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Annual Abundance and Population Structure of Two Dung Beetle Species in a Human-Modified Landscape.

Barretto Julliana W JW Cultid-Medina Carlos A CA Escobar Federico F

Insects 20181228 1

Population studies are essential for understanding different aspects of species' biology, estimating extinction probability, and determining evolutionary and life history. Using the mark-recapture method, we studied the abundance and population structure of dung beetle species (Deltochilum mexicanum and Dichotomius satanas) over one year in a human-modified landscape in Mexico. We captured 1960 individuals with a net recapture rate of 11%. Deltochilum mexicanum had a higher ...[more]

PMID: 30597891

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Project description:BackgroundAnthropized landscapes play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation, as they encompass about 90% of the remaining tropical forest. Effective conservation strategies require a deep understanding of how anthropic disturbances determine diversity patterns across these landscapes. Here, we evaluated how attributes and assembly mechanisms of dung beetle communities vary across the Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserve (REBISO) landscape.MethodsCommunity attributes (species diversity, abundance, and biomass) were assessed at the landscape scale, using spatial windows and vegetation classes. Windows were categorized as intact, variegated, or fragmented based on their percent cover of tropical forest. The vegetation classes analyzed were tropical forest, second-growth forest, and pastures.ResultsWe collected 15,457 individuals and 55 species. Variegated windows, tropical forests, and second-growth forests showed the highest diversity values, while the lowest values were found in intact windows and pastures. Landscape fragmentation was positively and strongly related to dung beetle diversity and negatively related to their abundance; biomass was positively associated with forest cover. Beta diversity was the primary driver of the high dung beetle diversity in the landscape analyzed.DiscussionThe landscape heterogeneity and its biodiversity-friendly matrix facilitate the complementarity of dung beetle assemblages in the Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserve. Random processes govern beta diversity patterns in intact and variegated windows. Therefore, vegetation cover in the region is sufficient to maintain a continuous flow of dung beetles between forested landscape segments. However, intense anthropic disturbances acted as deterministic environmental filters in fragmented windows and pastures sites, leading to biotic homogenization processes. Our results suggest that increasing habitat variegation in highly fragmented sites is an effective strategy to prevent or buffer homogenization processes in the REBISO landscape.

Project description:Insects in seasonal tropics experience a wide range of temperatures along seasons, habitats, and a day. Therefore, the thermal tolerance of the insects can be a major driver for their habitat preference, temporal patterns of activity, and formation of communities. We examined the dung beetle communities of eleven pairs of neighboring open (home gardens) and closed habitats (sacred groves) during dry and wet seasons and diel periods (day and night) to understand the dung beetle activities along a spatiotemporal gradient constituted by the sacred groves-home garden matrix on a tropical village landscape. We tested the following hypotheses: (i) closed habitats have greater activities of dung beetles over open habitats; (ii) the diurnal communities of dung beetles are different from the nocturnal communities; and (iii) the diurnal-nocturnal activities of dung beetles could be predicted by the habitat and season. We considered abundance, richness, total biomass, and Shannon diversity of overall beetles, abundance of different functional groups, and species composition in communities as the quantitative measures in the predictive statistical models. In total, 2727 dung beetles belonging to 38 species, ten genera, and three functional groups were collected. The open habitat supported more number of dung beetles (N = 2318) than the closed habitat (N = 409). The diurnal communities were different from nocturnal communities, particularly in open habitat, where the temperature was different between day and night. The dominant species of the diurnal communities of open habitat hardly used the closed habitat in any context including dry-wet seasons, but the nocturnal communities of the open habitat were closer to the communities of closed habitat. The diel period and habitat predicted the abundance activity of functional groups; season was a poor predictor of dung beetle activities. Given that the species composition has turned over across habitats, and the closed habitat supported remarkably lesser number of beetles than the open habitats, the closed habitat is unlikely to be a thermal refuge for the open habitat species in village landscapes that have island forests, such as sacred groves, and home gardens form a matrix.

Dataset Information

Annual Abundance and Population Structure of Two Dung Beetle Species in a Human-Modified Landscape.

Publications

Annual Abundance and Population Structure of Two Dung Beetle Species in a Human-Modified Landscape.

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