Abstract
Biodiversity loss and anthropogenic environmental changes are known to impact ecosystem functions and services. However, there are still some uncertainties such as confounding environmental factors other than community attributes that affect ecosystem functioning. Our goal was to understand what factors influence the performance of Scarabaeinae dung beetle functions, testing the hypothesis that both community attributes and environmental variables influence the performance. Toward this aim, we collected dung beetles along an elevational gradient (800–1400 m a.s.l.) in the Espinhaço mountain range (Brazil) and quantified dung beetle functions, that is, dung removal, soil excavation and secondary seed dispersal. We recorded data on environmental factors related to climate, soil and vegetation and evaluated their effects on dung beetle functions. Dung beetle ecological functions declined with elevation and the decrease was more pronounced than richness, indicating that there are other factors involved in functions performance besides diversity of beetles. Indeed, we found that the ecological functions measured were dependent on both dung beetle community attributes and environmental factors. Climate, soil and vegetation influenced dung beetle function performance as much as richness, abundance and body size. Dung beetle functional diversity did not explain any of the functions measured. Our study demonstrates that ecological functions are directly influenced by both community attributes and environmental variables and confirms the link between biodiversity, environment and ecosystem functioning.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Serra do Cipó National Park, Serra Morena Inn, Cedro Cachoeira Textile Industry, Vellozia Reserve and Pedra do Elefante Inn for logistical support. We also thank Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) for infrastructure and transportation support. We want to acknowledge all the people that helped us with field work, especially Luiz Fernando Ferreira, Jéssica Gonçalves and Daniela Melo, and all friends that donate their poop to be used as bait in our pitfall traps. We thank two anonymous reviewers and the Subject-Matter Editor for the valorous contributions to the early version of the manuscript. Nunes CA thanks Rafael Pinheiro and Júlia Barreto for the help with text revision and Annalice Chandoha (and Castanha) for the support during the writing. We are thankful to CNPq/PELD, PPBio/ComCerrado and FAPEMIG for supporting this study. This study was part of CA Nunes’ MSc at UFMG that was supported with a scholarship from CNPq.
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CAN, RFB, FMR and GWF conceived the ideas and designed study; CAN and RFB collected the data; CAN, RFB and JECF analyzed the data; CAN, RFB, FMR, FSN, GWF and JECF wrote the paper. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Nunes, C.A., Braga, R.F., de Moura Resende, F. et al. Linking Biodiversity, the Environment and Ecosystem Functioning: Ecological Functions of Dung Beetles Along a Tropical Elevational Gradient. Ecosystems 21, 1244–1254 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0216-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0216-y