Caatinga is the largest continuous Seasonally Tropical Dry Forests (STDF) in America, with a wide variety of vegetation physiognomies. Understanding how biodiversity is structured in each ecosystem allows to define what set of species and species attributes thrives under different vegetation physiognomies. We compared dung beetle diversity and functional groups in three physiognomies (Caatinga sensu strictu , Grota and Cerrado) within a mosaic of Caatinga during the rainy season. A total of 1073 dung beetles from 14 species were collected. Cerrado had a higher species richness than the other physiognomies. Alpha, gamma and beta diversities were statistically higher in Cerrado and Grota, while Caatinga sensu strictu was the least diverse physiognomy. Dung beetle expected species richness, abundance, and body size were similar among the physiognomies. In Cerrado and s. strictu diet-generalist dung beetles had a clearly higher species richness and abundance than the coprophagous and necrophagous dung beetles. This may indicate that diet generalists may be more successful than diet specific species in this ecosystem. Our study provides cues supporting that each physiognomy harbors distinct dung beetle communities, which this may be related to different microhabitat conditions and food availability.

中文翻译：

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卡廷加旱林三种植被地貌中蜣螂的多样性

卡廷加是美国最大的连续季节性热带干旱森林 (STDF)，拥有多种植被地貌。了解每个生态系统中生物多样性的结构可以定义哪些物种和物种属性在不同的植被地貌下茁壮成长。我们在雨季期间比较了卡廷加马赛克内三种地貌（Caatinga sensu strictu、Grota 和 Cerrado）的蜣螂多样性和功能群。共收集了来自 14 个物种的 1073 只蜣螂。塞拉多的物种丰富度高于其他地貌。Cerrado 和 Grota 的 Alpha、gamma 和 beta 多样性在统计上更高，而 Caatinga sensu strictu 是最不多样化的地貌。粪甲虫预期物种丰富度、丰度、相貌之间的体型和体型相似。在塞拉多和 s。与食粪性和食尸性粪甲虫相比，严格饮食通才粪甲虫的物种丰富度和丰度明显更高。这可能表明，在这个生态系统中，饮食通才可能比饮食特定物种更成功。我们的研究提供了支持每个地貌都有不同粪甲虫群落的线索，这可能与不同的微生境条件和食物供应有关。