TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-declines in large mammals and dung beetles: an impending ecological cascade
JF - Oikos
Y1 - 2009
A1 - Nichols, E.
A1 - Gardner, T. A.
A1 - Peres, C. A.
A1 - Spector, S.
SP - 481
EP - 487
KW - co-decline
KW - conservation
KW - decline
KW - extinction
KW - mammal
KW - resource
AB - Biodiversity loss can precipitate extinction cascades and impair ecological processes. These ‘downstream’ effects will be exacerbated if functionally important taxa are tightly linked with species threatened by extinction or population decline. We review the current evidence that such a scenario is currently playing out in the linked declines of persistently hunted
mammal populations and the dung beetles communities (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) that depend on them for adult and larval food resources. Through a close evolutionary association, mammal assemblages have played a fundamental role in structuring extant dung beetle communities. Today many game mammal species’ populations are severely depleted by subsistence or commercial hunting, especially in tropical forest systems. Multiple lines of evidence from temperate and tropical systems indicate that the regional-scale decline or extirpation of medium and large bodied mammal faunas can severely disrupt the diversity and abundance of dung beetle communities through alterations in the composition and availability of dung resources. These observed community disassemblies have significant short- and long-term implications for the maintenance of key ecosystem processes including nutrient recycling and secondary seed dispersal. Identifying the species- and community-level traits that buffer or exacerbate these species and functional responses is essential if we are to develop a better understanding of the cascading ecological consequences of hunting in tropical forests.
VL - 118
IS - 4
N1 - [gmap markers=blank::40.782003745886755,-73.97163391113281 |zoom=15 |center=40.78531820515752,-73.9749813079834 |width=100% |height=400px |control=Small |type=Satellite]
ER -
TY - Generic
T1 - Indicator taxa for biodiversity monitoring and assessment: A reality check using dung beetles (Scarabaeinae)
Y1 - Submitted
A1 - Forsyth, A.
A1 - Spector, S.
ER -
TY - CHAP
T1 - Dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado
T2 - A Biological Assessment of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia
Y1 - 1998
A1 - Forsyth, A.
A1 - Spector, S.
ED - Killeen, J.
ED - Shulenburg, T.
KW - Dung beetles
JF - A Biological Assessment of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia
PB - RAP Working Papers 10, Conservation International
CY - Washington DC
ER -
TY - CHAP
T1 - The dung beetle (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) assemblages of the Cordillera del Condor, Amazonas Province, Peru
T2 - The Cordillera Working Papers 7
Y1 - 1997
A1 - Forsyth, A. ,
A1 - Spector, S.
A1 - Gill, B.
A1 - B. Gill, 1997. . In, Thomas Schulenburg
A1 - Kim Awbrey (Eds. ). The Cordillera Working Papers 7,
A1 - Conservation International, Washington, D. C.
ED - Schulenburg, T.
ED - Awbrey, K.
KW - Dung beetles
JF - The Cordillera Working Papers 7
PB - Conservation International
CY - Washington DC
ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - Global dung beetle response to tropical forest modification and fragmentation: A quantitative literature review and meta-analysis
JF - Biological Conservation
Y1 - 2007
A1 - Nichols, E.
A1 - Larsen, T.
A1 - Spector, S.
A1 - Davis, A. L.
A1 - Escobar, F.
A1 - Favila, M.
A1 - Vulinec, K.
SP - 1
EP - 19
KW - Agroforestry
KW - community ecology
KW - deforestation
KW - Invertebrate
KW - Land-use change
KW - Scarabaeinae
AB - Although insects are crucial for maintaining ecosystem function, our understanding of their overall response to human activity remains limited. This is no less true of dung-burying beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), which provide a suite of critical ecosystem functions and services, yet but face multiple conservation threats, particularly from landscape conversion. Here we use a review and meta-analysis to synthesize the current knowledge concerning response to tropical forest modification and fragmentation of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). For every modified habitat type and individual forest fragment across 33 studies, we calculated six dung beetle community parameters, standardized relative to intact tropical forest. We organized modified habitats along an approximate disturbance gradient ranging from selectively logged, late and early secondary forest, through agroforestry, tree plantations, to annual crops, cattle pastures and clear-cuts. Secondary forests, selectively logged forest and agroforests supported rich communities with many intact forest species, while cattle pastures and clear-cuts contained fewer species overall with few forest-dwelling species. Abundance generally declined with increasing modification, but was quite variable. Communities in open habitats were often characterized by hyper-abundance of a small number of small-bodied species, leading to low evenness. Across fragmentation studies, dung beetle species richness, abundance and evenness declined in smaller forest fragments. Richness and abundance sometimes declined in more isolated fragments, although this response appeared to depend on matrix quality. Across both habitat modification and fragmentation studies, geographic location and landscape context appeared to modify dung beetle response by influencing the available pool of colonists. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and conclude with recommendations for management and conservation and for future research.
VL - 137
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V5X-4ND710H-1/2/3d7a5f4362824647199ebdfd5821fa14
ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - Ecological functions and ecosystem services of Scarabaeine dung beetles: a review
JF - Biological Conservation
Y1 - 2008
A1 - Nichols, E.
A1 - Spector, S.
A1 - Louzada, J
A1 - Larsen, T.
A1 - Amezquita, S
A1 - Favila, M.
A1 - The Scarabaeinae Reaearch Network
SP - 1461
EP - 1474
KW - dung beetle
KW - ecological economics
KW - ecosystem function
KW - ecosystem service
KW - human health
VL - 141
ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - Biogeographic crossroads as priority areas for biodiversity conservation
JF - Conservation Biology
Y1 - 2002
A1 - Spector, S.
SP - 1480
EP - 1487
KW - assemblages
KW - complementary areas
KW - congruence
KW - diversity
KW - forest
KW - hotspots
KW - patterns
KW - species richness
KW - strategies
KW - tiger beetles
AB - Threats to biodiversity outpace the resources of the conservation community and necessitate careful prioritization of conservation actions. I suggest that targeting the regions where biogeographic assemblages intersect - " biogeographic crossroads" - is a strategy that may achieve significant conservation economy by focusing on areas that satisfy many conservation criteria. I used a combination of data on Scarabaeine beetles in Bolivia and on other taxa and locations from the literature to consider the short- and long-term benefits of conserving these biogeographic crossroads. Biogeographic crossroads are areas of high species richness and beta diversity, often across many taxonomic groups. They are also regions where representativeness can be achieved with relative efficiency. Recent evidence that ecotones may be loci of evolution suggests that evolutionary processes such as speciation and coevolution may be conserved at biogeographic crossroads. Biogeographic crossroads appear to be areas of high conservation priority and opportunity in both the short and long term and require increased attention in the process of setting conservation priorities.
VL - 16
UR - ://000179420100009
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ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - Scarabaeine Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae): An Invertebrate Focal Taxon for Biodiversity Research and Conservation
JF - The Coleopterists Bulletin
Y1 - 2006
A1 - Spector, S.
SP - 71
EP - 83
VL - 5
ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid turnover and edge effects in dung beetle assemblages (Scarabaeidae) at a Bolivian Neotropical forest-savanna ecotone
JF - Biotropica
Y1 - 2003
A1 - Spector, S.
A1 - Ayzama, S.
SP - 394
EP - 404
KW - beta diversity
KW - Bolivia
KW - boundaries
KW - Central Amazonia
KW - COLEOPTERA
KW - communities
KW - conservation
KW - Dung beetles
KW - dynamics
KW - ecotone
KW - edge
KW - fragmented forests
KW - gradients
KW - patterns
KW - responses
KW - savanna
KW - tropical forest
AB - Habitat fragmentation and the widespread creation of habitat edges have recently stimulated interest in assessing the effects of ecotones on biodiversity. Ecotones, natural or anthropogenic, can greatly affect faunal movement, population dynamics, species interactions, and community structure. Few data exist, however, on insect community response to forest- savanna ecotones, a natural analog to anthropogenically cleared areas adjacent to forest. In this study, the abundance, total biomass, average individual biomass, and distribution of scarabaeine dung beetles were examined at a sharp tropical evergreen forest-savanna ecotone in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The abundance, total biomass, and average individual biomass of dung beetles varied significantly across the forest, edge, and savanna habitats. Species richness (S-obs) also varied significantly across the three habitats, but statistical estimations of true species richness (S-est) did not. Habitat specificity of the dung beetles in this study was extremely high. Of the 50 most common species collected during the study, only 2 species were collected in both the forest and savanna habitats, signaling nearly complete community turnover in just a few meters. Strong edge effects were evidenced by the decline in abundance, total biomass, and species richness at the forest-savanna boundary.
VL - 35
UR - ://000186644700009
N1 - 744QYBIOTROPICA
ER -
TY - CHAP
T1 - Indicator taxa in the vanishing tropics
T2 - Conservation in a changing world
Y1 - 1998
A1 - Spector, S.
A1 - Forsyth, A. B.
ED - Balmford, A.
ED - Mace, G.
SP - 181
EP - 210
KW - forest change biodiversity dung beetles
JF - Conservation in a changing world
PB - Cambridge University Press
CY - Cambridge
ER -