Abstract Dung beetles are a species group highly recognized for their sensitivity to anthropogenically induced change. There are few studies of the dung beetle communities found in Afromontane forests despite these forests forming part of a global hotspot of biodiversity. We used comparisons of diversity to investigate the effect of habitat and altitude on the species composition of Scarabaeidae dung beetles in six Afromontane habitat types and identified indicator species associated with each forest type. A total of 8020 individuals from 34 species belonging to 16 genera were captured at twelve transect locations across a 1.5 km altitudinal gradient. All indices measuring diversity and dominance showed significant differences between forest types with little overlap in the species composition detected in each. Altitude was negatively correlated with dung beetle abundance, species richness, and diversity, and there were also significant differences in abundance, species richness and diversity between altitude zones. Eight indicator species were identified for potential use in future conservation management or monitoring programs. This study found no significant relationship between species richness and forest type but an interaction between the two factors. Altitude in conjunction with forest type are the main factors in shaping dung beetle species composition in this Afromontane forest. Our results suggest the most important characteristic for determining community structure was mean canopy cover per forest type. Results from a previous short study conducted in 1974 indicate while there was significant overlap between dung beetle species caught 40 years ago and the present day there were also seven species which were absent. All seven of these species have climatic distributions centered around the wet highlands of East Africa and further work is urgently required to understand why these species are no longer detectable in the ANP. Implications for insect conservation Our results have important conservation implications as they underscore the importance of preserving forest heterogeneity to maintain maximum dung beetle diversity within mountain ecosystems. The identified differences in dung beetle diversity between forest types and the high turnover of dung beetle species between altitude zones should heighten the importance for instigating future Scarabaeidae conservation initiatives in Afromontane regions.

中文翻译：

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栖息地类型和海拔高度共同驱动非洲山地森林蜣螂群落结构

摘要 粪甲虫是一个因其对人为引起的变化的敏感性而受到高度认可的物种群。尽管这些森林构成了全球生物多样性热点的一部分，但对在非洲山地森林中发现的蜣螂群落的研究很少。我们使用多样性的比较来研究栖息地和海拔对六种非洲山地栖息地类型中金龟子甲虫物种组成的影响，并确定了与每种森林类型相关的指示物种。在 1.5 公里海拔梯度的 12 个横断面位置共捕获了 16 个属的 34 个物种的 8020 只个体。所有衡量多样性和优势度的指数都显示森林类型之间存在显着差异，每种类型的物种组成几乎没有重叠。海拔与蜣螂的丰度、物种丰富度和多样性呈负相关，海拔高度带之间的丰度、物种丰富度和多样性也存在显着差异。确定了八种指示物种，可用于未来的保护管理或监测计划。这项研究发现物种丰富度和森林类型之间没有显着关系，而是两个因素之间的相互作用。海拔和森林类型是影响这片非洲山地森林中蜣螂物种组成的主要因素。我们的结果表明，确定群落结构的最重要特征是每种森林类型的平均冠层覆盖率。之前在 1974 年进行的一项短期研究的结果表明，虽然 40 年前捕获的蜣螂物种与今天捕获的蜣螂物种之间存在显着重叠，但也有七个物种不存在。所有这七个物种的气候分布都集中在东非潮湿的高地周围，迫切需要进一步的工作来了解为什么在 ANP 中不再检测到这些物种。对昆虫保护的意义 我们的研究结果具有重要的保护意义，因为它们强调了保护森林异质性以保持山区生态系统内最大的蜣螂多样性的重要性。