02314nas a2200241   4500008004100000245010800041210006900149300001200218490000700230520150800237653002201745653001701767653001201784653001601796653002401812653001801836653001901854653000901873653001701882653002101899100002301920856012901943       2006                        eng d00aAggregation and coexistence of dung beetles in montane rain forest in deforested siters in central Peru0 aAggregation and coexistence of dung beetles in montane rain fore  a359-3700 v223 aThe ‘aggregation model of coexistence’ predicts that a strong and independent aggregation of species across ephemeral resource patches promotes species coexistence and maintains diversity. This study examines the role of aggregation in maintaining tropical dung beetle diversity and the effects of deforestation on aggregation patterns and diversity loss. Using clusters of pitfall traps, dung beetle aggregation was quantified in natural and disturbed habitat at nested temporal and spatial scales in central Peru. The results indicate that dung was colonized by a greater number of species, many of which were large, leading to a higher total beetle biomass in forest habitat than in deforested, farm habitat. Beetles were intraspecifically aggregated at each spatial scale examined. Habitat-type (forest/deforested) had no effect on the intensity of intra- or interspecific aggregation. Analyses of aggregation patterns revealed that dung beetle assemblages in forest habitat were generally saturated whereas in deforested habitat they were unsaturated. In general, interspecific aggregation was too weak relative to intraspecific aggregation to explain the high diversity of species in forest habitat. Other mechanisms, including resource partitioning are likely to play a greater role in maintaining the diversity of dung beetle assemblages in the region. These results also indicate that the loss of species from disturbed habitat has not been due to a breakdown in the aggregation mechanism. 10aAggregation model10abiodiversity10abiomass10acoexistence10acommunity structure10adeforestation10ahabitat change10aPeru10aScarabaeidae10aspecies richness1 aHorgan, Finbarr, G  uhttps://scarabnet.myspecies.info/aggregation-and-coexistence-dung-beetles-montane-rain-forest-deforested-siters-central-peru03455nas a2200253   4500008004100000245014200041210006900183300001200252490000700264520258000271653001202851653001102863653001802874653001902892653001802911653001802929653001702947653002102964100002002985700002503005700001503030700001803045856013803063       2008                        eng d00aUnderstanding the biodiversity consequences of habitat change: the value of secondary and plantation forests for neotropical dung beetles0 aUnderstanding the biodiversity consequences of habitat change th  a883-8930 v453 a1. 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.10abiomass10abrazil10adeforestation10ahabitat change10ahabitat value10asampling bias10aScarabaeinae10aTropical forests1 aGardner, T., A.1 aHernandez, M., I. M.1 aBarlow, J.1 aPeres, C., A.  uhttps://scarabnet.myspecies.info/understanding-biodiversity-consequences-habitat-change-value-secondary-and-plantation-forests-neotro