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Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36

Shady field boundaries and the colonisation of dung by


coprophagous beetles in Central American pastures
Finbarr G. Horgan∗
Escuela de Biologı́a, Universidad de El Salvador, Final 25 Avenida Norte, San Salvador, El Salvador
Received 1 September 2000; received in revised form 7 June 2001; accepted 29 June 2001

Abstract
This study examines how the shade from field boundaries may enhance dung decomposition in tropical pastures through its
effects on coprophagous beetles. Between August 1995 and January 1998, beetles were collected using dung-baited pitfall traps
at a cattle ranch in coastal El Salvador. Fifteen species were recorded throughout the study and, although some species were
significantly associated with field boundaries, there were no species exclusive to the boundaries. Diurnal specialist open-field
beetles arrived predominantly on the day of dung deposition whereas nocturnal generalist species colonised older dung (one
species) or colonised dung for longer (three species) particularly, in the shade. The endocoprid Aphodiinae (two species)
generally colonised dung that was 3–7 days old, at a time when activity of the larger paracoprid Coprini and Onthophagini
had diminished. Deposition of dung in the shade of field boundaries extended the period during which it was suitable for
colonisation, raising the average dung colonisation time by generalist species. The importance of shady field boundaries in
dung beetle conservation and efficient dung decomposition in pasture ecosystems is discussed.
© 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Central America; Dung beetles; Field boundaries; Scarabaeidae; Succession; Tropical pastures

1. Introduction et al., 1998). Understanding how the members of


insect assemblages respond to different landscape fea-
The destruction of natural habitat to accommodate tures in agricultural areas can be useful in the design
farming in tropical regions has lead to losses in the of successful land management strategies for insect
diversity of a number of insect groups (Klein, 1989; conservation.
Brown and Hutchings, 1997; Davies and Margules, Most of the native vegetation of the Pacific Coast of
1998). Modern day intensification of farming can lead Meso-America has already been cleared for agricul-
to further declines in diversity by excluding some of ture. The destruction of native tropical dry forests to
the species that have adapted to the landscapes of create permanent pastures has been particularly promi-
traditional farms (Perfecto et al., 1997; Vandermeer nent (Koop and Tole, 1997; Trejo and Dirzo, 2000).
Studies conducted throughout Tropical America have
∗ Present address: Department of Biology, University of New
noted local losses in coprophagous beetle diversity
Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 6C2.
in response to habitat destruction with induced pas-
Tel.: +1-506-452-6314. tures and clear-cuts maintaining only a small portion
E-mail address: boniga@hotmail.com (F.G. Horgan). of the species found in native forests (Howden and

0167-8809/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 8 8 0 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 2 6 1 - 4
26 F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36

Nealis, 1975; Klein, 1989; Estrada et al., 1998). It is 2. Materials and methods
important to maintain dung beetle diversity and pro-
mote dung beetle activity in pastures given the role 2.1. Study species
that these beetles play in the efficient functioning of
pasture ecosystems (see Bornemissza, 1976; Edwards A small number of dung beetle species commonly
and Aschenborn, 1987; Horgan, 2001). occur on herbivore dung in Central American pas-
Tropical forests offer beetle assemblages a diver- tures. Beetles of the tribes Coprini and Onthophagini
sity of microhabitats related to the biophysical make (subfamily Scarabaeinae) are among the most visu-
up of the forest (i.e. stands of tree species, hills and ally apparent (Janzen, 1983; Horgan, 2001). Coprine
troughs, soil types) and the availability of substrates species are generally medium to large beetles with
for oviposition and feeding (dung from forest mam- heavy armament and low fecundity. Onthophagine
mals, cadavers and decaying fruit and fungi). But, species are smaller beetles and the females of some
tropical pastures lack the microhabitat diversity of the species may lay hundreds of eggs during their life-
original forests. However, in some parts of Central time. Aphodius beetles are also generally common in
America, many cattle farms still consist of small herds herbivore dung in open-fields, these are small, light
on roughly cleared land, often with extensive-over- beetles that rarely demonstrate marked sexual dimor-
grown field boundaries, small forest stands, or patches phism and have medium to high fecundity (Halffter
of native grasses and mixed scrubby-growth known and Edmonds, 1982).
as “matorral” (Marroquı́n, 1992). Such pastureland is Four major dung utilisation strategies have been
generally regarded as inefficient and there is usually identified among dung beetles. Telecoprids cut dung
pressure to intensify production through the plant- from the pad and roll the dung some distance from
ing of exotic C4 grasses, the reduction of shade (in- the source where it is then buried. Paracoprids ex-
cluding the use of electrical fencing), construction of cavate blind ending tunnels under the source pad,
stables and the adoption of rotated grazing systems which they then pack with dung. Kleptocoprids
(Marroquı́n, 1992). lay their eggs in dung previously buried by other
A number of dung beetle species may be depen- species. Endocoprids utilise dung without displace-
dent on the presence of shady field boundaries and ment from the pad, feeding and laying eggs di-
isolated stands of trees (including cultivated species) rectly within the pad (Halffter and Edmonds, 1982;
for their survival in agricultural areas (Estrada et al., Doube, 1990).
1998). With homogenisation of the pasture land-
scape through intensification of animal production, 2.2. Study site
species that are shade specialists might become
excluded from large areas of tropical rangeland. Studies were carried out at the experimental
Understanding how dung beetles utilise dung in field-station “La Providencia” of the University of El
semi-intensive cattle farms may point to strategies Salvador in the Department of La Paz, El Salvador
to improve dung degradation, maintain beetle diver- (13◦ 20 N, 87◦ 05 W). The climate of La Paz is typical
sity and facilitate the dispersal of species between of the hot tropical plateau of the Central American
forest-fragments where pasture is a dominant habitat Pacific Coast with mean daily temperatures oscil-
matrix. lating between 23 and 28 ◦ C and an average annual
This study examines the colonisation of dung by rainfall of 1720 mm.
beetles present in pastures at a lowland semi-intensive The field-station is at an altitude of 50 masl and has
cattle ranch in El Salvador. It examines the effect of an area of 32.7 ha of which 5.9 ha are dedicated to cat-
shade from field boundaries in determining the nature tle grazing. Over the study period, between 106 and
of the dung colonisation curves for the most abundant 115 Creole cattle (mixed Jersey and Zebu) and two to
beetle species and suggests mechanisms by which seven horses grazed pastures at the field-station. Cat-
such boundaries might maintain species diversity and tle were kept overnight in a wooded corral. Pastures
improve dung decomposition in induced pastures in were mainly of exotic pangolagrass Digitaria decum-
Central America. bens Stent, with usually <10% of stargrass Cynodon
F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36 27

plectostachyus (K. Schumann) Pilger. Each field had bucket) collected in the morning from a corral and
a good supply of water for the cattle. wrapped in a muslin bag. Homogenising the dung for
The fields were generally small (0.5 ha) and sep- use in baits reduced the percent coefficient of variation
arated by field boundaries, which were often over- in dung moisture by about half. Baits were changed
grown. The field boundaries were generally straight, each week before 11.00 h and beetles were collected
with barbed wire fencing held to wooden posts or from the traps 2 and 7 days after baiting. In 1995,
attached to live trees. Trees included Ficus glabrata samples of the beetles were dried and weighed. In the
H.B.K., Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacquin) Grise- 2 years, from 1996 to 1998, beetles were released af-
bach Schultes and Bursera simoruba (L.) Sargent. ter capture at a central location within the station to
Field boundaries were not cut back during 1995 and avoid any possibility of a trapping-out effect over the
1996, and were about 1–2 m wide at the base with study period.
most tree species reaching a height of 10–15 m and
a canopy diameter of about 5–7 m. In 1997, the field 2.5. Use of habitat and succession
boundaries were cut back to increase the area suitable
for exotic grasses, this reduced the width and shade Throughout 1995 and 1996, pairs of pitfall traps
value of the boundaries. were placed in 10 pastures spread throughout the sta-
tion, with one trap placed in a permanently shaded
2.3. Field conditions area under a field boundary, and a second trap located
in the centre of the field. Traps were baited before
From September 1995 to October 1996 (excluding 11.00 h with fresh homogenised cow dung in October
February and March), the water content of fresh cow and November 1995, and each month from April to
dung at the station was estimated from weekly 50 g October 1996. Beetles were collected 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and
dung samples (n > 30) taken before 8.00 h at a cor- 21 days after baiting. In May 1996, the field-station
ral. The moisture content of horse dung was estimated acquired a number of horses and between June and
only in June 1996. Estimates were from 20 samples September of 1996 a second group of 10 pitfall traps
(50 g) collected immediately after dung dropping in were set-up with two traps installed in each of five
an open-field. Soil humidity was monitored at a sin- pastures. One trap was placed in the shade and the
gle pasture in 1996 from collected soil samples to a second at the centre of each field (parallel with cow
depth of 10 cm (n = 10). Grass height was recorded dung-baited traps already in the field). These traps
weekly with a graduated post at 10 points in each were baited with about 1.5 kg of fresh homogenised
of three parallel 100 m transects at the same pasture. horse dung collected in the morning from a horse pad-
The distance between adjacent points was about 20 m dock. Beetles were collected at the same intervals as
(a total of 30 points). indicated above for traps baited with cow dung. All
traps located within the same pasture were spaced at
2.4. Seasonal activity least 15 m apart and distances between traps in adja-
cent pastures varied from about 100 to 800 m.
Between mid August 1995 and January 1998, a sin-
gle permanent pitfall trap was established at the centre 2.6. Data analysis
of each of five adjacent pastures to monitor species’
seasonal activities. Each pitfall consisted of a circular Comparisons of the number of beetles colonising
metal container, 30 cm deep, dug into the ground and horse or cow dung in open and shade conditions from
flush with the ground surface. A tightly fitting fun- June until September were made using a two-way
nel, 15 cm in diameter, was placed at the mouth of the ANOVA on square-root transformed data. Where data
container with the dung bait suspended on a wooden could not be adequately transformed to ensure homo-
tripod some 5–10 cm over the funnel entrance. An geneity and normality of residuals, the non-parametric
empty collecting jar was placed beneath the funnel in Scheirer, Ray and Hare ANOVA was used (Zar, 1984).
the metal container. Baits consisted of about 1.5 kg of Analyses of colonisation curves for different dung
homogenised cattle dung (measured in a standardised beetle species under open and shade conditions were
28 F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36

carried out using calculated successional mean oc- 3. Results


currences (SMO) with pastures as sampling units.
The SMO is defined as the mean of the colonisation 3.1. Field conditions
curve and is expressed in days (Hanski, 1980). It is
the age of dung to which beetles arrive on average. Fresh cow dung had a yearly average water content
The SMO is calculated by the formula of 82.8% of fresh weight and varied little throughout
the year (Fig. 1). In contrast, soil was extremely dry
n and hard (<10% water per wet weight) throughout the
pi (ti − ti−1 )ti
SMO = i=1
n (1) dry season (November until April) and became wetter
i=1 pi (ti − ti−1 ) through the rainy season (mid-April until October),
reaching levels above 35% water per wet weight in
where pi is the number of beetles trapped with bait August and September of 1996. Grass height ranged
of age ti and n the number of collections made along from <10 cm at the end of the dry season to over 1 m
the succession. Most authors have applied the SMO at peak height in September. Fields usually contained
to succession data from temperate climates, where the 5 to 25 cattle so that pastures were never intensively
endocoprid Aphodiinae dominate the dung commu- grazed. The water content of horse dung in July was
nity and sampling is generally conducted using artifi- 80.05 ± 0.43% of fresh weight.
cial sampling pads. In such conditions, the SMO is a The first rains at the station began in mid-April in
combination of colonisation time and dung residence 1995 and 1996. However, 1997 coincided with a re-
times by individual species. In the case of tropical gional drought when rains were about 1 month later
coprophagous beetles sampled using baited pitfalls, and there was less rainfall. Also, early May tempera-
the SMO does not incorporate the residence times for tures were notably higher (Maximum 38 ◦ C) and rela-
each species. It is particularly important to note this, tive humidity lower than in previous years (Fig. 2a–c).
when interpreting SMO estimates for endocoprids in
this study. Neither paracoprids nor telecoprids reside 3.2. Seasonal activity
within the pad, but may continually visit the pad over
a given time. Over the entire study 20,282 individuals from
Using monthly SMOs for each pasture, the effect 15 species were captured in pitfall traps. Most species
of temporal sampling point (i.e. month) and degree
of shading on the colonisation curves of Copris
lugubris Boheman, a nocturnal generalist species, and
Phanaeus demon Laporte–Castlenau, a diurnal spe-
cialist, was examined. These were the only species
sufficiently abundant in all shaded and open-field traps
to permit analyses. Comparisons were made using a
GLM factorial analysis for a completely randomised
block design with pastures as blocks and data ranked
within the blocks (Collin, 1998). For the remaining
species, data from individual pastures were pooled
and Wilcoxon’s signed-ranks test was used to compare
colonisation under different degrees of shading with
calculated species’ SMOs for all shaded and open-field
traps paired each month. Similarly, Friedman’s test
was used to compare SMOs for the most common
species that arrived at traps located in the open (four
Fig. 1. Changes in the moisture content of cow dung (<2 h old)
species) and the common species in traps placed in and pasture soil (top 10 cm) at La Providencia from September
shaded areas (four species) and post-hoc comparisons 1995 to October 1996 (dung n > 30; soil n = 10). Bars indicate
were made using non-parametric Tukey tests. standard errors.
F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36 29

Fig. 2. Temperature (a), rainfall (b) and relative humidity (c) with weekly biomass of dung beetles trapped in pitfalls baited with fresh cow
dung (d). Climatic data was recorded from La Providencia Meteorological Station and was averaged for 10-day intervals. Bars indicate
standard errors.

were represented by few individuals (Table 1). Adult during December 1995 was the result of the emer-
dung beetles were active throughout most of the year gence of large numbers of adult C. lugubris at that
(Fig. 2d), but with a lull in activity between January time (Fig. 2d).
and March. Beetle activity peaked between June and Adult activity commenced for most species after the
August. In general, females were more frequently first rains with peak activity in mid-July or mid-August
trapped than males (Table 1). Fewer beetles were (Fig. 3). In 1997, adult emergence and peak activities
captured in 1997. C. lugubris was the most abundant were generally later than in 1996, and many of the
species and the only species trapped between late smaller species remained active throughout December.
January and mid-April. An increase in beetle activity In both years, activity of D. carolinus was greatest in
30 F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36
F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36 31

Fig. 3. Adult activity of the common dung beetle species at La Providencia in 1996 and 1997. Triangles indicate the time of peak capture
in pitfall traps at 5 or 10 pastures.

the early rainy season whereas D. centralis was most C. lugubris and O. marginicollis showed prefer-
active at the end of the rainy season. ences for cow dung over horse dung in shaded and
open habitats (Table 2). Shading and dung type inter-
3.3. Use of habitat acted to determine colonisation by P. demon, which
preferred cow dung in the open-field and horse dung
Only nine species were abundant at the study site; in the shade. Only one species, A. rodriguezi, was not
three of these specialise in utilising herbivore dung recorded from cow dung.
under open-field conditions. These included Aphodius
sp. 1, O. marginicollis and P. demon (Table 1). Other 3.4. Succession
species were generally more abundant in dung located
in shaded areas. These included C. lugubris, D. caroli- Most of the colonisation of dung in open-field
nus, D. centralis and O. batesi. The smaller Aphodius conditions occurred before the dung was 2 days
sp. 2 occurred almost exclusively in shaded areas. old (Fig. 4). In the open-field, dung dries rapidly.
Two of the three species that showed preferences for The diurnal beetles that prefer these conditions (i.e.
open-field conditions were diurnal, whereas nocturnal O. marginicollis, P. demon and possibly C. i. chevro-
species preferentially colonised dung in shaded areas lati) generally colonised dung that was only a few
(five species). Furthermore, open-field species tended hours old (Fig. 4).
to be dung specialists (all three species) whereas The nocturnal species, D. carolinus, D. centralis
species with higher captures in the shade were pre- and O. batesi generally colonised dung only on the
dominantly substrate generalists (four of five species) first day in open habitat (Fig. 4). The two common
(Table 1). Aphodius species were most attracted to dung that
32 F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36

Table 2
Occurrence of beetles in pitfall traps baited with one of two types of herbivore dung set out in open-field and shaded conditions in five
cattle pastures between June and September 1996
Species Total number of beetles captured Substratea test Degree of shadinga Interactiona test
statistic test statistic statistic
Cow dung Horse dung
Open Shaded Open Shaded
Aphodius sp. 1 18 1 7 0 H = 0.63 (ns) H = 2.41 (ns) H = 3.09 (ns)
Aphodius sp. 3 2 0 2 0 – – –
A. rodriguezi 0 0 0 1 – – –
C. i. chevrolati 0 0 1 0 – – –
C. lugubris 123 420 73 196 F1,19 = 22.13∗∗∗ F1,19 = 7.50∗ F1,19 = 1.08 (ns)
D. carolinus 5 15 4 3 H = 3.10 (ns) H = 1.30 (ns) H = 3.68 (ns)
D. centralis 0 5 3 6 H = 0.63 (ns) H = 1.00 (ns) H = 1.23 (ns)
O. batesi 3 70 14 32 F1,19 = 0.05 (ns) F1,19 = 13.14∗∗ F1,19 = 2.72 (ns)
O. höpfneri 1 0 0 0 – – –
O. marginicollis 60 15 4 2 F1,19 = 8.79∗ F1,19 = 4.07 (ns) F1,19 = 3.06 (ns)
P. demon 652 37 21 59 F1,19 = 34.99∗∗∗ F1,19 = 24.55∗∗∗ F1,19 = 49.38∗∗∗
a Data are pooled from three sampling points (ns = not significant: ∗ P < 0.05; ∗∗ P < 0.01; ∗∗∗ P < 0.001). All data square-root
transformed where parametric ANOVAs were used.

Fig. 4. Dung beetle colonisation curves for cow dung placed in open (open points) and shaded positions (closed points) in 10 pastures.
Within each pasture data are pooled from six sampling points between June and October 1996. Bars indicate standard errors. Note
differences in scales.
F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36 33

was 3–7 days old. Aphodius sp. 1 and C. lugubris


were the only species attracted to dung after 7 and
14 days in open and shaded areas, respectively. How-
ever, this was a rare occurrence. Colonisation times
differed significantly among species that regularly
colonised dung in the open (Friedman: χ 2 = 12.30,
d.f. = 3, P = 0.006) with Aphodius sp. 1 colonising
dung significantly later than C. lugubris, P. demon
and O. marginicollis (P < 0.05 for all comparisons),
and C. lugubris significantly later than P. demon and
O. marginicollis (P < 0.05 for all comparisons).
The mean colonisation times differed among the
four nocturnal species that were common in shaded
conditions (Friedman: χ 2 =13.56, d.f.=3, P =0.004).
C. lugubris arrived at dung significantly later than the
other three species (D. carolinus, D. centralis and O.
batesi) which all colonised dung of about the same
age (P < 0.05 for all comparisons of C. lugubris with
other species). There was no colonisation of horse
dung in either open or shade conditions after 4 days
by any species.
Interestingly, two very similar sequences of dung
beetle arrival were apparent on cow dung depending
on whether it is placed in the open-field or in the shade Fig. 5. Mean colonisation times of cow dung by coprophagous bee-
tles from October 1995 to October 1996. (a) Aphodius sp. 1 (open
of vegetative field boundaries. Generally, dung was
circles) and O. marginicollis (open triangles) in the open-field
colonised on the first day by large coprine (P. demon (solid line) with D. carolinus (closed circles) and O. batesi (closed
[open]; D. carolinus and D. centralis [shaded]) and triangles) in shaded areas (broken line). Data for all pastures were
smaller onthophagine beetles (O. marginicollis [open]; pooled to calculate SMOs (n = 1). (b) C. lugubris (solid circles)
O. batesi [shaded]). The telecoprid C. i. chevrolati and P. demon (open triangles) in shaded (broken line) and open
areas (solid line). Points indicate mean SMOs (n = 10 pastures).
also colonised dung in the open-field on the first day.
Bars indicate standard errors. Most species were absent during the
On the second night, after deposition large numbers of dry season except C. lugubris, which was the only species present
C. lugubris colonised dung in both open and shaded in large numbers in November 1995 and April 1996.
areas. After activity of the larger beetles had dimin-
ished, small endocoprids (Aphodius sp. 1 [open]; Phanaeus demon colonised dung for longer in the
Aphodius sp. 2 [shaded]) reached a peak in colonisa- later months and colonised only fresh dung in July
tion. The late colonisation of dung by the Aphodius (Fig. 5b) (month: F4,63 = 10.46, P < 0.001). Older
species suggests that they avoid the burial activities dung was colonised more frequently in open than in
of the larger coprine and onthophagine species. shaded areas (degree of shading: F1,63 = 11.93, P <
The sampling period affected the form of the 0.001; interaction: F8,63 = 0.765, P = 0.635). For
colonisation curve for each species (Fig. 5). Ear- most species, colonisation of fresher dung was more
lier colonisation of dung was more frequent among apparent towards the beginning and/or end of the dry
C. lugubris in the dry season than in the rainy sea- season and in July (Fig. 5a).
son and during the July sampling period (Fig. 5b)
(month: F8,155 = 9.551, P < 0.001). Deposition of
dung in the shade extended the colonisation curve of 4. Discussion
C. lugubris in all months except October 1996 (degree
of shading: F1,155 = 16.883, P < 0.001; interaction: Baited pitfall traps are commonly employed in eco-
F8,155 = 1.386, P = 0.209). logical studies of tropical dung beetles. However, these
34 F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36

traps have been criticised because of the difficulty in beetle assemblage. Such a relationship has been de-
interpreting their results (see Southwood, 1978) and tected in aquatic decomposer communities, however,
the limited information they yield on dung community it has not yet been investigated in dung communities
processes (Giller and Doube, 1994). This study as- (see Finn, 2001 and references therein).
sumes that dung baits adequately simulate some types In this study, only three of the recorded species
of large naturally occurring dung pads. It assesses the were exclusive to open habitat, the remaining species
suitability of these baits for colonisation by beetles were typical of forested areas, but many are now also
under different habitat conditions where the baits un- common in open-fields at night. There is evidence
dergo different rates of change. The study makes no that field boundaries do maintain some species in pas-
inference on subsequent acceptance of, or residence ture ecosystems. Estrada et al. (1998) found 10 forest
times in dung by any of the species. Therefore, the species that were associated with field boundaries, but
application of pitfall traps in this study was entirely absent from the open-field in the pasture landscapes
adequate. Because traps were baited in the mornings, of Veracruz, Mexico. In this study, three species (each
the results make inference only to dung that is dropped represented by a single individual) were recorded only
in the morning. At the study site, as in many parts in association with field boundaries. Each of these
of Central America, cattle were maintained in corrals species has been captured in open-fields in other stud-
at night, therefore, all of the naturally occurring dung ies from the region (Janzen, 1983; Montes de Oca and
pads were dropped in the pastures during the day. Halffter, 1995; Horgan unpublished data) so they are
In Tropical America, a relatively small number of unlikely to occur exclusively along field boundaries.
dung beetles occur in open pastures or forest clear-cuts However, Aphodius sp. 2, a common species that is
when compared with adjacent forest habitats (Howden significantly associated with field boundaries, could
and Nealis, 1975; Klein, 1989; Estrada et al., 1998). In be affected by the loss of field boundaries and become
this study, only nine species were abundant throughout excluded from large open areas. This species preferred
the extensive study period. Adults of all the species, older dung in both the open-field and shaded areas so
except C. lugubris, occurred almost exclusively dur- that its observed preference for shaded habitat is not
ing the rainy season. C. lugubris occurred throughout an artefact from differential rates of dung-bait desic-
the year, but does not construct tunnels during the dry cation. Therefore, whereas open-field specialists are
season when the soil is hard (personal observation). unlikely to be affected by maintaining shade in mod-
It is likely that soil moisture was a major factor in ern Central American cattle ranches, the diversity of
determining adult beetle activity because dung mois- generalist species may be enhanced by the presence
ture remained relatively constant throughout the year. of shady field boundaries.
The cutting-back or removal of shady field boundaries A second mechanism by which reduced shad-
to improve the growth of exotic grasses may lead to ing might reduce rates of dung decomposition is
further declines in species richness of coprophagous through its effects on the colonisation of dung by
beetle assemblages (see Estrada et al., 1998) or re- pasture-tolerant dung beetles. Breshears et al. (1998)
duce beetle tunnelling activity. Dung dropped in the found that shade from woody plants reduced tem-
open-field quickly develops a dry crust and may re- perature fluctuations and decreased the evaporation
main on the soil surface for several weeks whereas rates of soil in shaded areas when compared with
dung dropped under shade is often completely buried non-shaded patches in semi-arid woodland in New
within 2–3 days (personal observation). This suggests Mexico. Intuitively dung that is placed under the
that dung decomposition is slower in open-fields. shade of trees or field boundaries will dry at a slower
There are a number of mechanisms by which re- rate than dung placed in open-fields. Differences in
duced shading through its effects on dung beetle as- drying rates, temperatures and light intensities will
semblages might reduce rates of dung decomposition likely affect the biochemical processes involved in
in tropical pastures. This study addresses two such dung decomposition and the rate at which dung qual-
mechanisms. Firstly, a loss of beetle diversity could ity changes under the two regimes.
affect dung decomposition where there is a relation- Changes in dung quality have been shown to in-
ship between decomposition rates and richness of the fluence colonisation by dung beetles. Montes de Oca
F.G. Horgan / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91 (2002) 25–36 35

and Halffter (1995) demonstrated that colonisation diversity and reduce the efficiency of dung decompo-
by Onthophagus species of dung that is dropped in sition in tropical pastures.
the morning is significantly higher than that of dung
placed at night whereas C. lugubris and Digiton-
thophagus gazella (Fabricius) are significantly more Acknowledgements
abundant in nighttime dung. Furthermore, dung qual-
ity changes associated with dung ageing have been The author thanks staff at the Agronomy Faculty
noted as important in influencing the colonisation of the University of El Salvador for their co-operation
and succession of Aphodius dung beetles in Europe and interest throughout this study; L. Serrano
as this relates to the oviposition behaviour of individ- Cervantes for help in many aspects of the research;
ual species (Gittings and Giller, 1998). In this study, A. Solı́s (Instituto de Biodiversidad [InBio], Costa
dung placed under shade was attractive to nocturnal Rica) and E. Cano (Universidad del Valle, Guatemala)
generalists for longer. Only small numbers of D. car- for help in identifying beetles, and V. Valencia Durán,
olinus, D. centralis and O. batesi colonised dung in Y. López Ventura and S. Diaz Sierra for help with the
the open-field on the first day after dropping and there field work. J. Finn, T. Gittings, G. Moreau, D. Quiring
was little subsequent colonisation of open-field dung and anonymous referees gave many helpful comments
by these species. However, dung under the shade was to improve the manuscript. The Ministry of Livestock
colonised by significantly higher numbers of noctur- and Agriculture of El Salvador gave permission to
nal generalists and, during some months, the dung was collect dung beetles throughout this study.
continually colonised for up to a week after dropping.
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