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Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity: dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures

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Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity: dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures. / Almeida, Sabrina; Louzada, Julio; Sperber, Carlos et al.
In: Biotropica, Vol. 43, No. 6, 11.2011, p. 704-710.

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Almeida S, Louzada J, Sperber C, Barlow J. Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity: dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures. Biotropica. 2011 Nov;43(6):704-710. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00751.x

Author

Almeida, Sabrina ; Louzada, Julio ; Sperber, Carlos et al. / Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity : dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures. In: Biotropica. 2011 ; Vol. 43, No. 6. pp. 704-710.

Bibtex

@article{7c02463705d24dc289684679f8037f4e,
title = "Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity: dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures",
abstract = "Although many tropical savannas are highly influenced by humans, the patterns of biodiversity loss in these systems remain poorly understood. In particular, the biodiversity consequences of replacing native grasslands with exotic pastures have not been studied. Here we examine how the conversion of the native savanna grasslands affects dung beetle communities. Our study was conducted in 14 native (grassland: campo limpo), and 21 exotic (Urochloa spp. monoculture) pastures in Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We collected 4996 dung beetle individuals from 66 species: 3139 individuals from 50 species in native pastures and 1857 individuals from 55 species in the exotic pastures. Exotic pastures had lower dung beetle richness, abundance and biomass than native pastures. Species composition between the two pasture types was significantly different and exotic pastures were dominated by few abundant species. Indicator species analysis detected 16 species indicators of native pastures and three of exotic pastures, according to relative abundance and frequency in each pasture system. Our results show that the conversion of native pastures to exotic pastures leads to a predictable loss of local species richness, increasing dominance and changes in species composition. These results highlight the importance of maintaining native pastures in the Cerrado agro-pastoral landscape.",
keywords = "agro-pastoral landscape, Brazil, Brazilian savanna, habitat conversion, native pasture, Scarabaeinae, PLANTATION FORESTS, BRAZILIAN SAVANNA, COLEOPTERA, SCARABAEIDAE, CONSERVATION, ASSEMBLAGES, VEGETATION, DIVERSITY, SECONDARY, PATTERNS",
author = "Sabrina Almeida and Julio Louzada and Carlos Sperber and Jos Barlow",
year = "2011",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00751.x",
language = "English",
volume = "43",
pages = "704--710",
journal = "Biotropica",
issn = "0006-3606",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "6",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Subtle land-use change and tropical biodiversity

T2 - dung beetle communities in Cerrado grasslands and exotic pastures

AU - Almeida, Sabrina

AU - Louzada, Julio

AU - Sperber, Carlos

AU - Barlow, Jos

PY - 2011/11

Y1 - 2011/11

N2 - Although many tropical savannas are highly influenced by humans, the patterns of biodiversity loss in these systems remain poorly understood. In particular, the biodiversity consequences of replacing native grasslands with exotic pastures have not been studied. Here we examine how the conversion of the native savanna grasslands affects dung beetle communities. Our study was conducted in 14 native (grassland: campo limpo), and 21 exotic (Urochloa spp. monoculture) pastures in Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We collected 4996 dung beetle individuals from 66 species: 3139 individuals from 50 species in native pastures and 1857 individuals from 55 species in the exotic pastures. Exotic pastures had lower dung beetle richness, abundance and biomass than native pastures. Species composition between the two pasture types was significantly different and exotic pastures were dominated by few abundant species. Indicator species analysis detected 16 species indicators of native pastures and three of exotic pastures, according to relative abundance and frequency in each pasture system. Our results show that the conversion of native pastures to exotic pastures leads to a predictable loss of local species richness, increasing dominance and changes in species composition. These results highlight the importance of maintaining native pastures in the Cerrado agro-pastoral landscape.

AB - Although many tropical savannas are highly influenced by humans, the patterns of biodiversity loss in these systems remain poorly understood. In particular, the biodiversity consequences of replacing native grasslands with exotic pastures have not been studied. Here we examine how the conversion of the native savanna grasslands affects dung beetle communities. Our study was conducted in 14 native (grassland: campo limpo), and 21 exotic (Urochloa spp. monoculture) pastures in Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We collected 4996 dung beetle individuals from 66 species: 3139 individuals from 50 species in native pastures and 1857 individuals from 55 species in the exotic pastures. Exotic pastures had lower dung beetle richness, abundance and biomass than native pastures. Species composition between the two pasture types was significantly different and exotic pastures were dominated by few abundant species. Indicator species analysis detected 16 species indicators of native pastures and three of exotic pastures, according to relative abundance and frequency in each pasture system. Our results show that the conversion of native pastures to exotic pastures leads to a predictable loss of local species richness, increasing dominance and changes in species composition. These results highlight the importance of maintaining native pastures in the Cerrado agro-pastoral landscape.

KW - agro-pastoral landscape

KW - Brazil

KW - Brazilian savanna

KW - habitat conversion

KW - native pasture

KW - Scarabaeinae

KW - PLANTATION FORESTS

KW - BRAZILIAN SAVANNA

KW - COLEOPTERA

KW - SCARABAEIDAE

KW - CONSERVATION

KW - ASSEMBLAGES

KW - VEGETATION

KW - DIVERSITY

KW - SECONDARY

KW - PATTERNS

U2 - 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00751.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00751.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 43

SP - 704

EP - 710

JO - Biotropica

JF - Biotropica

SN - 0006-3606

IS - 6

ER -