It is assumed that the transformation of native forest into agricultural fields and grazing grasslands negatively affects biological diversity, and there are multiple cases documenting this pattern. For example, when lowland tropical forests are transformed into extensive cattle pastures, dung beetle richness, abundance and diversity decrease. However, in some cases, biodiversity may respond in the opposite direction. We describe dung beetle assemblages in a mountainous landscape where small grasslands (less than 7.5 ha) with sheep pastoralism are imbedded in a pine-oak forest matrix at the Mexican Transition Zone. We captured 14 species (1058 beetles) in 10 forest sites, and 20 species (2591 beetles) in 10 grassland sites. Generalized linear mixed models showed significantly higher values of species richness, diversity and abundance in grazing grasslands. We found 10 shared beetle species between forests and grassland sites, and a PERMANOVA revealed significant differences in species composition between habitats. Generalized linear models showed that dung beetle richness, abundance and diversity are related to dung availability, soil moisture and altitude, but not to soil hardness nor land use heterogeneity. Similarly, we did not find significant correlations between compositional dissimilarity (beta diversity) and dung availability nor land use heterogeneity. Our results document how traditional sheep herding in small grassland patches embedded in a forest matrix promotes the diversity of dung beetle assemblages, showing that biodiversity can be enhanced by human activities. The results of this study indicate that grassland patches embedded in the forest matrix where traditional small herds of sheep graze, contribute to increasing landscape complexity by providing a mosaic of environmental conditions that promote a high diversity of dung beetles on a regional scale.

中文翻译：

---

小草原放羊促进山林景观中蜣螂的多样性

假设将原始森林转化为农田和放牧草地会对生物多样性产生负面影响，并且有多个案例记录了这种模式。例如，当低地热带森林变成广阔的牛牧场时，蜣螂的丰富度、丰度和多样性都会下降。然而，在某些情况下，生物多样性可能会做出相反的反应。我们描述了在山地景观中的蜣螂组合，在墨西哥过渡区，小草原（小于 7.5 公顷）与绵羊放牧嵌入松橡树林基质中。我们在 10 个森林地点捕获了 14 种（1058 只甲虫），在 10 个草原地点捕获了 20 种（2591 只甲虫）。广义线性混合模型显示出显着更高的物种丰富度值，放牧草原的多样性和丰度。我们在森林和草原站点之间发现了 10 种共享甲虫物种，PERMANOVA 揭示了栖息地之间物种组成的显着差异。广义线性模型表明，蜣螂的丰富度、丰度和多样性与粪便可用性、土壤湿度和海拔高度有关，但与土壤硬度和土地利用异质性无关。同样，我们没有发现成分差异（β 多样性）与粪便可用性或土地利用异质性之间存在显着相关性。我们的结果记录了传统的绵羊在嵌入森林基质的小草地上放牧如何促进蜣螂组合的多样性，表明人类活动可以增强生物多样性。