@article {1353, title = {Comunidade de escarabeineos (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) copro-necrofagos da regiao de Brejo Novo, Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brasil}, journal = {Revista Brasileira de Entomologia}, volume = {51}, number = {2}, year = {2007}, month = {june}, pages = {228-233}, abstract = {This paper reports the results of the preliminary survey of copro-necrophagous dung beetles of Brejo Novo region, Caruaru, Pernambuco, as well as some aspects of the community structure such as seasonality, diversity, equitability, richness and abundance of species. Ten samplings with intervals of 30 days and duration of 48 hours, fortnightly were done between September 2003 to July 2004. Scarab beetles were collected with 24 pitfall traps baited with two types of baits, human excrements and rotting bovine meat. A total of 1,540 individuals belonging to six tribes, 12 genera and 28 species were collected. The species Canthon af. carbonarius, Canthon chalybaeus, Dichotomius nisus, D. semisquamosus, Digitonthophagus gazella and Eurysternus hirtellus are, apparently, adapted to the studied environment. Traps baited with human excrements attracted 826 individuals and those with rotting bovine meat attracted 714 specimens. Large number of species (15) considered {\textquotedblleft}rare{\textquotedblright} occurred, being three of them {\textquotedblleft}singletons{\textquotedblright}, two {\textquotedblleft}doubletons{\textquotedblright} and 10 with abundance between three and 10 individuals; 13 species were considered {\textquotedblleft}common{\textquotedblright}. Of the analyzed species, seven present generalist alimentary habits, four are strictly coprophagous and one is strictly necrophagous. Positive correlations were verified between the precipitation and the abundance of the individuals and the species richness. This preliminary survey of the dung beetles of the Brejo Novo region contributed to increase the number of species registered for Pernambuco and northeast region of Brazil. }, keywords = {Alimentary habit, biodiversity, brazil, ecology, Scarabaeinae}, author = {Barbosa Silva, Fernando Augusto and Hernandez, M. I. M. and Ide, Sergio and de Moura, Rita de Cassia} } @article {1675, title = {Understanding the biodiversity consequences of habitat change: the value of secondary and plantation forests for neotropical dung beetles}, journal = {Journal of Applied Ecology}, volume = {45}, number = {3}, year = {2008}, pages = {883-893}, abstract = {1. Secondary and plantation forests are becoming increasingly widespread in the tropics. A recent meta-analysis on the impacts of land-use change on tropical forest dung beetles concluded that regenerating forests can be effective in helping to offset species loss following deforestation. How- ever, our understanding of the extent to which these results can be generalized to new locations remains very poor. 2. We attempted to overcome many of the design limitations that characterize previous studies by collecting spatially independent dung beetle samples from primary, secondary and Eucalyptus plantation forests in north-east Brazilian Amazonia across a large quasi-experimental landscape that minimized confounding edge and fragmentation effects. 3. We recorded 9203 dung beetles, comprising 85 species. Species richness was significantly higher in primary forest and the majority of species were more abundant there than elsewhere, whereas secondary and plantation sites harboured an impoverished subset of primary forest species. 4. Our data illustrate the low value of tropical secondary and plantation forests for dung beetles in our study area, and our conclusions are more pessimistic than those of earlier studies. 5. Because of differences in the order of species rank-abundance and rank-biomass patterns, re-coding community data from abundance to biomass significantly altered the analytical weight of individual species in determining community patterns. Larger bodied beetles were more prone to local extinctions and abundance declines and this effect was consistent both within and between genera. 6. Synthesis and applications . Our study demonstrates that secondary and plantation forests in a large neotropical landscape host exceptionally impoverished dung beetle communities. Furthermore, the depletion of beetle abundance combined with a reduction in average body mass in converted forests is likely to have detrimental consequences for the maintenance of dung beetle-mediated ecosystem services in these habitats. Differences in biogeographical and landscape context, and the influence of common limitations in sampling design, may explain why many other studies have painted a more optimistic picture of the conservation value of anthropogenic habitats. In the absence of further evidence we caution strongly against the claim that forest regeneration schemes on degraded land can effectively offset the loss of species following deforestation, and urge that conservation strategies prioritize the protection of remaining areas of primary forest.}, keywords = {biomass, brazil, deforestation, habitat change, habitat value, sampling bias, Scarabaeinae, Tropical forests}, author = {Gardner, T. A. and Hernandez, M. I. M. and Barlow, J. and Peres, C. A.} } @mastersthesis {2187, title = {Fatores determinantes da riqueza local de esp{\'e}cies de Scarabaeidae (Insecta: Cole{\'o}ptera) em fragmentos de Floresta Estacional Semidec{\'\i}dua}, volume = {Mestrado}, year = {2003}, note = {digital copy}, pages = {68}, school = {Universidade Federal de Lavras}, address = {Lavras}, keywords = {(biological conservation 2007), absence, Brasil, brazil, dung beetle, fragmentation, presence, Scarabaeinae, semideciduous}, author = {Schiffler, Gustavo} } @article {2285, title = {Effects of degradation and replacement of southern brazilian coastal sandy vegetation on the dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae)}, journal = {Biotropica}, volume = {40}, number = {6}, year = {2008}, note = {Dichotomius laevicollis~
Dichotomius schiffleri~
Dichotomius geminatus
Dichotomius semisquamosus
Dichotomius nisus~
Gromphas lacordairei
Ateuchus squalidus
Canthon staigi
Trichillum externepunctatum
Onthophagus aff. hirculus~
Pedaridium bidens

}, pages = {719-727}, abstract = {In this paper we address the effects of anthropogenic disturbance and replacement of Brazilian Coastal sandy vegetation (restingas) on dung beetles communities. We sampled dung beetles in the four main vegetative physiognomies of Guriri Island, Esp ́{\i}rito Santo State: forest restinga, restinga Clusia, disturbed restinga (from burning events), and pastures. We placed four sets of two pitfall traps (baited with horse and human dung) in four independent areas of each vegetation type, and collected 14,534 individuals of 13 dung beetle species. Neither log 10 of individuals nor log 10 of species richness were good predictors of restinga disturbance. However, a significant amount of variation in dung beetle abundance and richness could be explained by bait type. Ordination of these sites using hybrid multidimensional scaling revealed a gradient of habitat disturbance from undisturbed restinga samples to pasture. Dung beetle communities along this gradient demonstrated a complete turnover in species composition, from restinga-specialists to invasive and generalists species respectively. This complete turnover signals the local extirpation of forest-adapted species in disturbed and converted areas. Only a single dung beetle species in preserved restingas is protected by Brazilian law (Dichotomius schiffleri). Given the extent of the clearing of restinga habitat, the conservation status of dung beetles associated with restinga forest gives cause for concern. }, keywords = {biological invasion, brazil, coastal ecosystems, Dichotomius geminatus, Dichotomius laevicollis, Dichotomius nisus, Dichotomius schiffleri, Dichotomius semisquamosus, Gromphas lacordairei, insect conservation, Restinga, Scarabaeinae}, author = {Vieira, Leticia and Louzada, Julio N. C. and Spector, Sacha} }