Influence of Quaternary climate change on the potential distribution of Atlantic Forest dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)

ABSTRACT

Influence of Quaternary climate change on the potencial distribution of Atlantic Forest dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). The role of Cenozoic paleoclimatic changes in the distribution of dung beetles species from the Atlantic Forest (AF) remains poorly understood. We used ecological niche modeling under different scenarios (present, 6 ka, 21 ka, and 120 ka) to investigate how climatic oscillations during the Quaternary might have influenced the distribution of species endemic to this region. Models were built for five of the nine dung beetle species of the Dichotomius sericeus group: D. iannuzziae, D. irinus, D. laevicollis, D. schiffleri, and D. sericeus. The models of climatic suitability for D. irinus and D. laevicollis show a similar historical pattern in response to climate change but were divergent from D. iannuzziae, D. schiffleri, and D. sericeus. Dichotomius schiffleri is the species with the smallest area of ​​potencial occurrence. Over time, the species probably remained limited to lowland AF areas on the Brazilian coast and, it is currently found preferentially in Restinga ecosystems along the coast. Regarding the potential distribution models at the present, D. iannuzziae, D. schiffleri, and D. sericeus have potential distributions similar to their realized distribution. This study shows that the historical distribution of the D. sericeus species group has been influenced by paleoclimatic changes that occurred in the AF over the last 120 ka.

Keywords:
Biogeography; Conservation; Distribution patterns; Insects; Quaternary climatic; scillations