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Composition Of Dung Beetle Communities In A Tropical Montane Forest Alters The Rate Of Dung Removal More Than Species Diversity Alone, Elizabeth A. Engle

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Dung beetles provide key ecological functions by degrading and recycling dung. I used experimentally-assembled communities to examine the role of species richness, community biomass, species diversity, species identity, and community composition in dung removal, using Ateuchus chrysopyge, Copris nubilosis, Onothophagus cyanellus, and Dichotomius satanas. I hypothesized: (1) that as species richness, biomass, and diversity increases within a community, dung removal increases; and (2) species are not functionally equivalent, so community composition should influence dung removal rates. As species richness, biomass, and diversity of experimentally-assembled communities increased, the proportion of dung removed also increased. Also, the four species in this study …