Dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) community diversity: Influence of grazing regimes and dung type in a grassland ecosystem
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Abstract
Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) are critical ecosystem engineers that improve grasslands through waste removal, bioturbation, and carbon sequestration. Therefore, grassland management that supports diverse dung beetle communities is essential for maintaining the sustainability of these ecosystems. Historically, grasslands in the Great Plains region were home to keystone herbivores such as bison (Bison bison bison Linnaeus), but as agriculture spread due to European expansion, bison were extirpated and replaced with cattle (Bos taurus Linnaeus). Dung beetles are closely associated with these large herbivores because they break down and distribute their dung, contributing to key ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and reduced pasture fouling. In rangelands, pastures are managed with grazing herbivores, haying and mowing, or they are fallow (ungrazed), which allows for woody plant encroachment. To date, few studies have examined the effects of dung type on dung beetle communities and no studies have examined these effects under different management regimes. We examined dung beetle community structure and composition on bison-grazed, cattle-grazed, and ungrazed pastures at two study sites in the northern Flint Hills tallgrass ecoregion in Kansas, USA. Dung beetle community data were collected using pitfall traps baited separately with either bison, cattle, or rabbit dung. Redundancy analyses showed that dung beetle communities associated with each dung type and grazing regime differed. These results suggest that different management regimes support diverse, abundant dung beetle communities, and multiple species of herbivores are needed to support these communities, as no dung type was able to attract all species. Our findings highlight the importance of grassland management plans that implement a mosaic of grazed and ungrazed patches to maximize dung beetle diversity, thus benefiting the ecosystem services of this critically imperiled ecosystem.