Dung beetles response to livestock management in three different regional contexts

• Autores: Guerra Alonso, Celeste Beatríz; Zurita, Gustavo Andrés; Bellocq, Maria Isabel
• Año de publicación: 2020
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Biodiversity; Community ecology; Conservation biology; Forest ecology
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Misiones

Fil: Guerra Alonso, Celeste Beatríz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (Puerto Iguazú); Argentina.
Fil: Guerra Alonso, Celeste Beatríz. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (Puerto Iguazú); Argentina.
Fil: Zurita, Gustavo Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (Puerto Iguazú); Argentina.
Fil: Zurita, Gustavo Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (Puerto Iguazú); Argentina.
Fil: Zurita, Gustavo Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales (Eldorado); Argentina.
Fil: Zurita, Gustavo Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales (Eldorado); Argentina.
Fil: Bellocq, Maria Isabel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina.
The response of biological communities to human disturbances depends on factors acting at local and regional scale and on the interaction between them. We compared the response of native forest dung beetle communities to cattle grazing under regional contexts differing on precipitation patterns (Atlantic forest and humid and dry Chaco). Through multivariate and GLMM analyses we contrasted richness and composition across regions and land uses and explored the role of local and regional variables accounting for those changes. We captured a total of 44101 individuals of 109 species. The interaction between local and regional variables influenced the response to livestock management. In the two wet regions (humid Chaco and Atlantic forest) diversity was similar in the native forest regardless of cattle presence but differs strongly in open pastures. In contrast, in the dry Chaco, differences between native forest and land use were not evident. Vegetation structure was a major determinant of species richness, whereas regional climate determined differences in species composition. We concluded that the response of dung beetles to livestock management cannot be generalized for all biomes. In dry ecosystems, dung beetles are probably pre-adapted to environmental conditions imposed by cattle ranching whereas in wet ecosystems the impact of cattle ranching is more significant.