Environmental influence on coprophagous Scarabaeidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) assemblages in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso

Influência ambiental sobre assembleias de Scarabaeidae coprófagos (Insecta: Coleoptera) no Pantanal de Mato Grosso

Abstract

Here we examine assemblage structure of coprophagous Scarabaeidae (dung beetles) in the Pantanal of the state of Mato Grosso with respect to flooding regimes, soil texture, leaf litter volume and tree dominance in native and exotic pastures. Samples were collected along 30 transects of 250 m in length in a 5×5 km grid (25 km²). Five pitfalls baited with human feces were placed in each transect. A total of 1692 individuals in 19 species were captured, the majority in the subfamily Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae. Assemblages were influenced by the duration of flooding and leaf litter volume. None of the other habitat variables was correlated with species richness. Cultivated pastures with exotic grasses were unimportant for composition of the assemblages of beetles. These results indicate that duration of flooding is the most important regulating force in this community.

Keywords:
humid areas; dung beetle; environmental gradient; periodic flooding; species distribution patterns