Dung beetles from two sustainable-use protected forests in the Brazilian Amazon

By

Carvalho, Edrielly C.
Maldaner, Maria
Costa-Silva, Vinicius
Sehn, Heivanice
Franquini, Carol
Campos, Vinicius
Seba, Vinicius
Maia, Laís
Vaz-De-Mello, Fernando Z
França, Filipe Machado

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023-03-16

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

11

Pages

1--24

Subjects

Amazonia , Biodiversity , Coleoptera , dung beetles , Scarabaeinae , sustainable-use forests , tropical ecosystems

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e96101
eLocator: e96101

 

Abstract

The Amazon Forest is one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and yet its protected areas are understudied concerning insects and other invertebrates. These organisms are essential for tropical forests due to their ecological processes, with some species being very sensitive to habitat disturbances. Dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) have been used as bioindicators for more than 30 years and were surveyed to assess the insect biodiversity of two sustainable-use forest reserves in the Brazilian Amazon.<br> We report inventories of dung beetles from two Amazonian forest reserves in Pará State, Brazil: the Tapajós National Forest and the Carajás National Forest. Surveys were carried out with baited-pitfall traps installed in 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2019. We collected a total of 3,772 individuals from 19 genera and 96 species. We highlight the importance of Amazonian protected areas as refugia for insect biodiversity, particularly dung beetles, which contribute to many key ecosystem processes.