Effects of land usage on dung beetle assemblage structure: Kruger National Park versus adjacent farmland in South Africa

Abstract

Little quantitative evidence exists regarding how effective protected areas are for preserving species. We compared dung beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) inside and outside of the Kruger National Park, which protects indigenous flora and fauna over a large area of savanna in the northeast lowlands of South Africa. Although it is contiguous with other reserves in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, parts of its border abut onto farmland. Some effects of differing land usage either side of this border were studied at the South Welverdiend, significantly greater species richness, abundance, and biomass of dung beetles were recorded in the reserve where mammal species diversity is greater and elephants produce much larger droppings than any mammal in the farmland. Assemblage structure also differed strongly between dung types, weather conditions on sample days, and season, but weakly between sampled soil types. These differences in assemblage structure were recorded over short distances as the sites in the reserve were only 3-4 km from those in farmland at Welverdiend.

Shrub encroachment is not always land degradation: Insights from ground‐dwelling beetle species niches along a shrub cover gradient in a semi‐arid Namibian savanna

“…We recorded 89% of all ground-dwelling Scarabaeidae during the first trapping session shortly after the only large rainfall event of the rainy season 2014/2015. This strong effect of rain on the occurrence of dung beetles is known from other studies (e.g., Davis, Scholtz, & Swemmer, 2012;Jankielsohn et al, 2001). Surprisingly, we did not record high numbers of scarabids on sites with a high presence of dung and a high LUI.…”

What is the importance of open habitat in a predominantly closed forest area to the dung beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae) assemblage?

“…Such is the case with some species of dung beetles (Pineda et al 2005;Davis et al 2012). Although they feed essentially on decaying matter, these insects are not particularly specialized with regard to the type of resource (Halffter & Matthews 1966;Gill 1991;Quintero & Roslin 2005;).…”

Wild Herbivore Grazing Enhances Insect Diversity over Livestock Grazing in an African Grassland System

“…This is particularly the case for the domestic- vs. wild-grazed comparisons. Nevertheless, it seems that the presence of wild grazers in general does promote historic insect diversity [59]. This result emphasises that a variety of megaherbivores creates many niches for insects, highlighting that these interactions are a fundamental part of this system and are critical to conserve [3,16,26,35,60].…”

“…We support the maintenance or reintroduction of native large mammal herbivores into ENs and other conservation areas where possible. Furthermore, having a highly complex native herbivore assemblage is important for creating as many different niches as possible for as much of the insect assemblage as possible [59,60,61]. This allows ENs to mimic the PAs better than those under domestic grazing.…”