RESUMO
Abstract In order to evaluate the impact of oil palm cultivation on dung beetles in the eastern Brazilian Amazon, comparisons were made of communities in oil palm plantations and native forest. Pitfall traps baited with human feces were buried to soil level in plantations and surrounding forests. Fifty traps were used in each type of vegetation, placed at 50 m intervals along five transects. Dung beetle communities in oil palm plantations have lower species richness (18 spp.) than in surrounding tropical rainforest (48 spp.), as well as altered species composition. Total abundance of individuals was not significantly different between the two habitats, but species composition was greatly different. Species evenness was greater in the forest. Forest corridors for the preservation of dung beetle species may need to be much wider than current designs. The erosion of biodiversity in dung beetles due to oil palm monoculture parallels what has been seen in other animal taxa in tropical tree plantations.
RESUMO
Dichotomius schiffleri Vaz-de-Mello et al is often cited as endemic to the preserved coastal sandy-dune vegetation (restinga) of Guriri Island, Espírito Santo state, and is included in the Brazilian List of Endangered Fauna as "critically endangered" (CR). However, we recorded its occurrence in twelve additional sites along the coasts of Espírito Santo, Bahia, Sergipe and Pernambuco. The geographic distribution of D. schiffleri is limited to the coastal Atlantic Forest domain, mainly in preserved restinga patches. We recommend that D. schiffleri remains in the List of Endangered species, but in the "endangered" (EN) category, according to the IUCN criteria.
Assuntos
Besouros , Espécies em Perigo de Extinção , Animais , Brasil , Ecossistema , ÁrvoresRESUMO
The aim of this study was to compare the dung beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) community structure at two sites in the Charles Darwin Ecological Refuge in Igarassu, Pernambuco, Brazil. Dung beetles were collected in 2006 using monthly samples from 48 pitfall traps baited with human dung and bovine carrion. The dung beetle communities from the study sites were compared in terms of abundance, species richness, and diversity (Shannon index). Seasonality was analyzed by Spearman correlation between rainfall data and community parameters. In total, 2,560 individuals belonging to 40 species, 16 genera, and 6 tribes were collected. Species richness was higher for the clear-cut area compared with the forest habitat. Estimators of species richness suggested a total richness of 42-47 species in the entire study area. A positive correlation was observed between monthly rainfall and total abundance of individuals for the clear-cut area but not for the forest habitat. This study contributes to a better understanding of Scarabaeinae ecology in the Atlantic rainforest of northeastern Brazil.