TY - JOUR T1 - Spatial and temporal co-occurrence of competitors in Southern African dung beetle communities JF - Journal of Animal Ecology Y1 - 1994 A1 - Giller, Paul S. A1 - Doube, Bernard M. SP - 629 EP - 643 KW - Animalia- KW - Arthropoda- KW - Catharsius-tricornutus (Coleoptera-) KW - Climatology- (Environmental-Sciences) KW - Coleoptera-: Insecta- KW - Cop KW - Copris-elphenor (Coleoptera-) KW - Copris-fallaciosus (Coleoptera-) KW - Ecology- (Environmental-Sciences) KW - Invertebrata- KW - Physiology- AB - 1. Co-occurrence of 11 species of crepuscular-nocturnal medium-sized tunnelling dung beetles from two core functional groups that vary in their rate of dung burial was examined at a range of spatial and temporal scales to identify the likely extent to which competition for dung might affect the structure of beetle communities of subtropical pasture. 2. At the largest scale, clear seasonal co-occurrence and similar habitat preferences (soil type and vegetation associations) were found amongst the species. 3. Medium- and fine-scale distributions of the species were investigated across nine blocks of dung-baited traps dispersed over a 400 ha tract of open cattle pasture, on deep sandy soil in Natal, South Africa. Traps were baited overnight and cleared in the morning in two series of three successive days. 4. There was marked variation in mean numbers caught within and between each 3-day trapping period, and also between blocks in the total number of beetles (pooled over species) or individual species caught per block. The spatial relationship for total beetles between blocks persisted for several days, but not several weeks. 5. Significant intraspecific aggregation was apparent for all species at the medium spatial scale amongst individual pads and between blocks over the 400 ha, but at the finest spatial scale (within blocks) most species were randomly distributed on most occasions, irrespective of the abundance of the species. The actual level of aggregation was thus found to increase at higher spatial scales. 6. Pairwise species comparisons showed little or no positive association on the majority of occasions and negative pairwise associations were exceedingly rare. Positive association between the two functional groups was stronger, however, and positive species association at the community-wide level was evident on most occasions. 7. There was thus some evidence of independent spatial aggregation patterns amongst individual species on a medium spatial scale (400 ha), but not on a fine scale (100 m-2). Intraspecific/functional group aggregation tended to be greater than interspecific/functional group aggregation at all scales of analysis. Despite this, beetle densities in a considerable proportion of pads in the field would indicate, based on previous experimental evidence, that significant levels of inter- and intraspecific/functional group competition for dung is likely to occur. Thus, the aggregative behaviour of species documented here is not predicted to significantly diminish the level of interspecific competition within and between the two functional groups in this system. VL - 63 N1 - 1994ArticleEnglish ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Resource quality and the colonisation and succession of coprophagous dung beetles JF - Ecography Y1 - 1998 A1 - Gittings, Tom A1 - Giller, Paul S. SP - 581 EP - 592 KW - colonization mammals KW - communities KW - dung beetle KW - ecosystem services VL - 21 N1 - have copy ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The effects of the intensification of agriculture on northern temperate dung beetle communities JF - Journal of Applied Ecology Y1 - 2003 A1 - Stephen A. Hutton A1 - Giller, Paul S. SP - 994–1007 KW - agriculture KW - dung beetle KW - ecosystem function KW - ecosystem services KW - pesticides KW - Scarabaeinae VL - 40 N1 - digital ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Patch size and colonisation patterns: an experimental analysis using north temperate coprophagous dung beetles JF - Ecography Y1 - 2000 A1 - Finn, John A. A1 - Giller, Paul S. SP - 315 EP - 327 AB - The relationship between dung pad size and both adult colonisation and larval development was investigated in an assemblage of north temperate dung beetles (Geotrupes, Aphodius and Sphaeridium ) using both dung pads and baited pitfall traps. Wet weight of 22-day-old natural dung pads was found to vary widely in the field ( VL - 23 SN - 0906-7590 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Spatial and temporal variation in species composition of dung beetle assemblages in southern Ireland JF - Ecological Entomology Y1 - 1999 A1 - Finn, John A. A1 - Gittings, Tom A1 - Giller, Paul S. SP - 24 EP - 36 KW - Anim KW - Animalia- KW - Aphodius-spp. [dung-beetle] (Coleoptera-) KW - Arthropoda- KW - Coleoptera-: Insecta- KW - Environmental-Sciences) KW - Geotrupes-spp. [dung-beetle] (Coleoptera-) KW - Invertebrata- KW - Sphaeridium-spp. [dung-beetle] (Coleoptera-) KW - Terrestrial-Ecology (Ecology- AB - 1. This study attempts to identify the main community characteristics that contribute to variability in dung beetle assemblage composition and structure across a range of spatial and temporal scales. 2. Dung beetle assemblages (Aphodius, Sphaeridium, and Geotrupes species) were monitored by dung-baited pitfall trapping at 10-day intervals during the seasonally active period at eleven sites in southern Ireland. Three of the sites were monitored over at least 2 years between 1991 and 1996. 3. Although the species composition of the above taxonomic groups was comparable among sites and years, relative abundances of component species varied considerably. Detrended correspondence analysis ordinations indicated a similar level of variability in dung beetle assemblage structure among years, and among sites apprxeq 1-180 km apart. 4. Processes that may contribute to spatio-temporal variability in dung beetle assemblages are discussed, and strategies for future research are suggested. VL - 24 N1 - Feb., 1999ArticleEnglish ER -