Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Rondônia, Colorado do Oeste, Rondônia, Brazil.
Environ Entomol. 2020 Dec 14;49(6):1335-1344. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvaa132.
The Brazilian Cerrado is the second largest Neotropical biome and an important hotspot of biodiversity. However, land use change in this ecosystem is producing landscapes with modified natural environments and anthropogenic environments, such as exotic pastures. In this study, we evaluated how conversion of native Cerrado vegetation to exotic pastures affects the dung beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). We sampled dung beetles in four areas of Cerrado (sensu stricto) and in four areas of exotic pastures (Urochloa spp.) in Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In all, 7,544 individuals from 43 species of dung beetles were collected, and 19 species were found in both the Cerrado and exotic pastures. The abundance and species richness of dung beetles were higher in Cerrado remnants. Species composition differed between Cerrado and exotic pastures, where 11 species were classified as specialists of Cerrado, 10 species were considered specialists of exotic pastures, and 6 species were habitat generalists. Roller beetles were most negatively affected by exotic pasture establishment. We demonstrated that exotic pasture establishment has a negative impact on dung beetle assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado. The decline in abundance and richness of roller beetles has important implications for the understanding of ecosystem functioning because it can reduce the ecological functions performed by dung beetle assemblages in exotic pastures. Finally, the high number of dung beetle species shared between Cerrado and exotic pastures suggests that the Cerrado remnants is a fundamental requirement for the conservation of biodiversity of dung beetles in exotic pastures in the Brazilian Cerrado.
巴西塞拉多是第二大新热带生物群系，也是生物多样性的重要热点地区。然而，该生态系统的土地利用变化正在产生具有改良自然环境和人为环境的景观，例如外来牧场。在这项研究中，我们评估了将原生塞拉多植被转化为外来牧场如何影响蜣螂类群（鞘翅目：金龟科：蜣螂亚科）。我们在巴西南马托格罗索州阿基杜瓦纳的四个塞拉多（狭义）地区和四个外来牧场（Urochloa spp.）地区采样了蜣螂。共采集到 7544 只来自 43 种蜣螂的个体，其中 19 种在塞拉多和外来牧场都有发现。塞拉多残片中的蜣螂数量和物种丰富度较高。塞拉多和外来牧场的蜣螂物种组成不同，其中 11 种被归类为塞拉多的专性种，10 种被认为是外来牧场的专性种，6 种是栖息地的广适种。滚粪甲虫受外来牧场建立的影响最大。我们证明了外来牧场的建立对巴西塞拉多的蜣螂类群有负面影响。滚粪甲虫丰富度和丰度的下降对生态系统功能的理解具有重要意义，因为它可能会降低蜣螂类群在外来牧场中发挥的生态功能。最后，塞拉多和外来牧场之间共享的蜣螂物种数量较多，这表明塞拉多残片是保护巴西塞拉多外来牧场蜣螂生物多样性的基本要求。
