BIOL 415/416/420 (Price): Background Articles

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.

Species composition and seasonal distribution of dung beetles were studied on dairy and beef cattle pastures in North Carolina.

Clear understanding of the links between ecological functions and biodiversity is needed to assess and predict the true environmental consequences of human activities. Several key ecosystem functions are provided by coprophagous beetles in the subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), which feed on animal excreta as both adults and larvae. Through manipulating feces during the feeding process, dung beetles instigate a series of ecosystem functions ranging from secondary seed dispersal to nutrient cycling and par- asite suppression. Many of these ecological functions provide valuable ecosystem services such as biological pest control and soil fertilization.

The link for this will take you directly to the main website for the Maryland Entomological Society website, and to the 1984 publication where this report was published. The report is in pdf format.

DUNG BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE: SCARABAEINAE) ARE BROADLY RECOGNIZED as a useful focal taxon for describing and mon- itoring spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity (Favila & Halffter 1997, Spector & Forsyth 1998, Davis et al. 2001). By burying dung on which adults and larvae feed, dung beetles act as secondary seed dispersers, accelerate nutrient recycling rates, increase plant yield, and regulate parasites of vertebrates (Mittal 1993, Andresen 1999).

Invertebrates constitute the bulk of known biodiversity on Earth and dominate virtually every ecosystem in terms of species richness, animal biomass, and critical ecological functions. They also represent a rich source of information for broadening and refining conservation strategies and for answering questions in biological research. Occupying an enormous variety of niches, and displaying an equally broad range of population, dispersal, and distributional traits, invertebrates present a multitude of ‘‘probes’’ for use in virtually any research setting. But the hyperdiversity of many invertebrate taxa, perhaps their most alluring feature for many of us who study them, nevertheless represents a challenge to the collection of large-scale data and the inclusion of these taxa in research and the conservation process.