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Dung beetle assemblage (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) from an altitudinal enclave of rainforest surrounded by a Seasonally Tropical Dry Forest in the Neotropics

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Abstract

Altitudinal enclaves of rainforest are fragile and highly disturbed ecosystems located in high-altitude plateaus and mountains that are surrounded by Caatinga dry forest. Regardless of its biological importance, few studies regarding dung beetle assemblage were performed in an altitudinal enclave of rainforest. The aim of this study was to describe the structure of dung beetle assemblage from an altitudinal enclave of rainforest in the municipality of Triunfo, Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil. Dung beetles were surveyed in the beginning of the rainy season using pitfall traps baited with excrement. Beetle diversity patterns were subsequently explored using Hill numbers. A total of 217 individuals belonging to 13 species and nine genera were recorded, and Dichotomius carbonarius (Mannerheim 1829), Uroxys bahianus Boucomont 1927, and Eurysternus nigrovirens Génier 2009 were the most abundant species. According to Hill numbers, there were five abundant species and three dominant species in the dung beetle assemblage. Also, there were two distinct beetle assemblages in the region of Triunfo, being most of the species commonly collected in Caatinga dry forest, as Deltochilum verruciferum Felsche 1911, Deltochilum sp., and U. bahianus. This study contributes to the scarce knowledge regarding diversity of dung beetles that inhabits altitudinal enclaves of rainforest of Northeastern Brazil, with a total of 43 species being currently recorded in such forests.

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Acknowledgements

We thank ‘Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior’ (CAPES) for granting a postdoctoral (PNPD PPG-Eco-INPA) to RPS, and ‘Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco’ (FACEPE) for postdoctoral scholarship (BFP-0010-2.05/19) to AFAL. The authors thank Dr. Fernando Augusto Barbosa Silva for the taxonomic revision of some dung beetle species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil

    R. P. Salomão

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciência Animal Tropical, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil

    A. F. A. Lira

  3. Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    S. I. A. Foerster

  4. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil

    F. Z. Vaz-de-Mello

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  1. R. P. Salomão
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  3. S. I. A. Foerster
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  4. F. Z. Vaz-de-Mello
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Contributions

RPS contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by RPS, AFAL and SIAF. FNZ identified all collected specimen. All authors contributed equally to manuscript preparation and approved their final version.

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Correspondence to A. F. A. Lira.

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Competing interest

The field collection was complied with Brazilian law. Voucher specimens were deposited in the scientific collections of the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso following standard procedures, and there are no conflicts of interest (financial and non-financial).

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Salomão, R.P., Lira, A.F.A., Foerster, S.I.A. et al. Dung beetle assemblage (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) from an altitudinal enclave of rainforest surrounded by a Seasonally Tropical Dry Forest in the Neotropics. Int J Trop Insect Sci 42, 55–62 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00517-4

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