Landscape composition shapes biomass, taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles within human-modified tropical rainforests

Habitat loss and land-use change in tropical forests have modified the composition and configuration of natural landscapes, driving biodiversity loss. Through studies covering different approaches to diversity and functional traits, a more holistic comprehension may be drawn regarding the effects of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect conservation 2023-10, Vol.27 (5), p.717-728
Main Authors: Ratoni, Brenda, Ahuatzin, Diana, Corro, Erick J., Salomão, Renato Portela, Escobar, Federico, López-Acosta, Juan C., Dáttilo, Wesley
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Beetles
Biodiversity
Biodiversity loss
Biomass
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biosphere
Coleoptera
Composition
Conservation Biology/Ecology
Dung
Entomology
Genera
Habitat loss
Heterogeneity
Human influences
Insects
Land use
Landscape
Landscape preservation
Life Sciences
Original Paper
Rainforests
Taxonomy
Transformations
Tropical forests
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Habitat loss and land-use change in tropical forests have modified the composition and configuration of natural landscapes, driving biodiversity loss. Through studies covering different approaches to diversity and functional traits, a more holistic comprehension may be drawn regarding the effects of habitat transformation. In this study, we evaluated how the forest cover and landscape heterogeneity shape the taxonomic and functional diversity and biomass of dung beetles. Dung beetles were sampled in 16 landscape units of the “Los Tuxtlas” Biosphere Reserve (Mexico). We collected a total of 2396 individuals of 25 species in 14 genera. Taxonomic and functional diversity and biomass of dung beetles were positively related to the amount of primary forest and negatively related to increased landscape heterogeneity. These results indicate that tropical rainforests are highly sensitive to landscape transformation, which jeopardizes the different aspects of biodiversity. By showing the importance of evaluating different facets of biodiversity we conclude that implementing different landscape descriptors and different diversity components is a complementary and efficient approach to assessing the effects of landscape composition on dung beetles’ assemblages in tropical rainforests. Implications for insect conservation Landscape composition plays a pivotal role in elucidating the various components that define the dung beetle community in tropical forests. Furthermore, it is of utmost significance to encompass a diverse array of biodiversity components, alongside species biomass, in order to comprehensively evaluate the impact of human-induced landscape transformation.
ISSN:1366-638X
1572-9753
DOI:10.1007/s10841-023-00492-w