Abstract
The Ohdaigahara subalpine plateau in Japan has recently suffered a reduction in primary forest land caused by an increasing population of sika deer (Cervus nippon). Deer have debarked many trees, causing dieback, gradually changing the primary forest first to light forest with a floor that is densely covered with sasa grass (Sasa nipponica) and then to S. nipponica grassland. To examine the effects of vegetative transformation on the dung-beetle community, we compared the diversity and abundance of dung-beetle assemblages in the primary forest, transition forest, and S. nipponica grassland using dung-baited pitfall traps. The species richness and species diversity (Shannon-Wiener index) were significantly highest in the primary forest and lowest in the S. nipponica grassland. The evenness (Smith-Wilson index) was highest in the primary forest and nearly equal in the transition forest and S. nipponica grassland. The abundance was apparently greater in the transition forest than in the primary forest and S. nipponica grassland. These results suggest that loss of primary forest resulting from an increasing deer population decreases the diversity of the dung-beetle community while increasing the abundance of dung beetles in the transition forest. Sika deer use transition forests and grasslands more frequently than primary forests as habitat, but an increase in dung supply there does not necessarily increase the diversity or abundance of dung-beetle assemblages.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akashi N, Nakashizuka T (1999) Effect of bark-stripping by sika deer (Cervus nippon) on population dynamics of a mixed forest in Japan. For Ecol Manage 113:83–89
Cambefort Y, Walter P (1991) Dung beetles in tropical forests in Africa. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 198–210
Davis AJ (2000) Does reduced-impact logging help preserve biodiversity in tropical rainforests? A case study from Borneo using dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) as indicators. Env Ent 29:467–475
Davis ALV (2002) Dung beetle diversity in South Africa: influential factors, conservation status, data inadequacies and survey design. Afr Entom 10:53–65
Davis AJ, Holloway JD, Huijbregts H, Krikken J, Kirk–Spriggs AH, Sutton SL (2001) Dung beetles as indicators of change in the forests of northern Borneo. J Appl Ecol 38:593–616
Doube BM (1983) The habitat preference of some bovine dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Africa. Bull Entom Res 73:357–371
Doube BM (1987) Spatial and temporal organization in communities associated with dung pats and carcasses. In: Gee JHR, Giller PS (eds) Organization of communities: past and present. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 255–280
Estrada A, Coates-Estrada R (2002) Dung beetles in continuous forest, forest fragments and an agricultural mosaic habitat island at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Biodiv Conserv 11:1903–1918
Estrada A, Halffter G, Coates-Estrada R, Meritt D (1993) Dung beetles attracted to mammalian herbivore (Alouatta palliata Gray) and omnivore (Nasua narica Linnaeus) dung in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. J Trop Ecol 9:45–54
Estrada A, Coates-Estrada R, Dadda AA, Cammarano P (1998) Dung and carrion beetles in tropical rain forest fragments and agricultural habitats at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. J Trop Ecol 14:577–593
Estrada A, Anzures AD, Coates-Estrada R (1999) Tropical rain forest fragmentation, howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) and dung beetles at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Am J Primatol 48:253–262
Fujioka M (2001) A list of Japanese Lamellicornia. Kogane, suppl 1. Japanese Society of Scarabaeoideans, Tokyo
Furusawa H, Araki M, Hino T (2001) Effects of sika deer and sasa on water potential in surface soil—a case study at Ohdaigahara (in Japanese with English summary). Appl For Sci 10:31–36
Gill BD (1991) Dung beetles in tropical American forests. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 211–229
Halffter G, Arellano L (2002) Response of dung beetle diversity to human-induced changes in a tropical landscape. Biotropica 34:144–154
Hanski I (1989) Dung beetles. In: Lieth H, Werger MJA (eds) Tropical rain forest. Elsevier, London, pp 489–511
Hino T (2000) Bird community and vegetation structure in a forest with a high density of sika deer. Jpn J Ornithol 48:197–204
Hoga A (1982) A report on ecological studies of a dung beetle Geotrupes auratus (in Japanese). Environmental Management Bureau of Kyoto, Japan
Horgan FG (2002) Shady field boundaries and the colonization of dung by coprophagous beetles in Central American pastures. Agric Ecosys Environ 91:25–36
Howden HF, Nealis VG (1975) Effects of clearing in a tropical rain forest on the composition of the coprophagous scarab beetles fauna (Coleoptera). Biotropica 7:77–83
Ide H, Kameyama A (1972) Vegetation of Ohdaigahara (in Japanese). Appl Bot Sociol 1:1–48
Japan Forest Technology Association (2001) A field guide to the nature of the Ohsugi Valley and the Ohdaigahara subalpine plateau (in Japanese). Kinki-Chugoku Branch of the Japan Forestry Agency, Osaka
Kawahara T, Tadaki Y (1978) Studies on sasa communities (III): relationship between light intensity and biomass of Sasa nipponica (in Japanese with English summary). J Jpn For Soc 60:244–248
Kenney AJ, Krebs CJ (2003) EcoMeth: programs for ecological methodology, 2nd edn, ver. 6.1.1. Exeter Software, New York
Kitamura K, Nakai Y, Sakamoto T, Terashima T, Shirai T (2000) Effects of forest disturbance on transpiration properties of sasa grass community (in Japanese). North For Jpn 52:215–218
Klein BC (1989) Effects of forest fragmentation on dung and carrion beetle communities in central Amazonia. Ecology 70:1715–1725
Krebs CJ (1999) Ecological methodology, 2nd edn. Addison-Wesley/Longman, Menlo Park
Lobo JM, Lumaret J-P, Jay-Robert P (1998) Sampling dung beetles in the French Mediterranean area: effects of abiotic factors and farm practices. Pedobiologia 42:252–266
Maeji I, Yokoyama S, Shibata E (1999) Population density and range use of sika deer, Cervus nippon, on Mt. Ohdaigahara, central Japan. J For Res 4:235–239
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Croom Helm, London
Masumoto K, Ochi T (1985) Scarabaeidae (Geotrupinae, Hybosorinae, Scarabaeinae, Aphodiinae) (in Japanese). In: Uéno S, Kurosawa Y, Sato M (eds) The coleoptera of Japan in color, vol II. Hoikusha, Osaka, pp 348–379
Medina CA, Escobar F, Kattan GH (2002) Diversity and habitat use of dung beetles in a restored Andean landscape. Biotropica 34:181–187
Nummelin M, Hanski I (1989) Dung beetles of the Kibale Forest, Uganda: comparison between virgin and managed forests. J Trop Ecol 5:349–352
Odum EP (1971) Fundamentals of ecology, 3rd edn. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia
Peck SB, Forsyth A (1982) Composition, structure and competitive behaviour in a guild of Ecuadorian rain forest dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Can J Zool 60:1624–1634
Rohlf FJ, Slice DE (1999) BIOMstat for Windows, ver. 3.3. Execter Software, New York
Smith B, Wilson JB (1996) A consumer’s guide to evenness indices. Oikos 76:70–82
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. W. H. Freeman, New York
SPSS (2002) SPSS base 11.5 syntax reference guide. SPSS, Chicago
Takagi K, Tsuboya T, Takahashi H, Inoue T (1999) Effect of the invasion of vascular plants on heat and water balance in the Sarobetsu Mire, Northern Japan. Wetlands 19:246–254
Takeda A (1994) Establishment and regeneration of seedlings of Picea jezoensis var. hondoensis forest on Mt. Ohdaigahara (in Japanese). In: Report on the conservation of spruce forest on Mt. Ohdaigahara (1989–1993). Environment Agency, Japan, pp 14–23
Vessby K, Wiktelius S (2003) The influence of slope aspect and soil type on immigration and emergence of some northern temperate dung beetles. Pedobiologia 47:39–51
Yajima K, Yamamoto Y, Maeji I, Kurosaki T, Yokota T, Sato H, Shibata E (2002) Seasonal changes in home range of female sika deer (Cervus nippon) on Mt. Ohdaigahara, central Japan (in Japanese with English Summary). Nagoya Univ For Sci 21:1–7
Yamamoto S (1993) Gap characteristics and gap regeneration in a subalpine coniferous forest on Mt. Ontake, central Honshu, Japan. Ecol Res 8:277–285
Yamamoto K (2003) LIA for Win32. http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA008416
Yokota T, Nakamura S (2002) Time sequence of Sasa-type grassland enlargement on Mt. Ohdaigahara, Nara (in Japanese). Nara Bot 24–25:15–18
Yokoyama S, Shibata E (1998a) Characteristics of Sasa nipponica grassland as a summer forage resource for sika deer on Mt. Ohdaigahara, central Japan. Ecol Res 13:193–198
Yokoyama S, Shibata E (1998b) The effects of sika-deer browsing on the biomass and morphology of a dwarf bamboo, Sasa nipponica, in Mt. Ohdaigahara, central Japan. For Ecol Manage 103:49–56
Yokoyama S, Koizumi T, Shibata E (1996) Food habits of sika deer assessed by fecal analysis in Mt. Ohdaigahara, central Japan. J For Res 1:161–164
Yokoyama S, Maeji I, Ueda T, Ando M, Shibata E (2001) Impact of bark stripping by sika deer, Cervus nippon, on subalpine coniferous forests in central Japan. For Ecol Manage 140:93–99
Acknowledgements
We thank M. Matsumura, S. Nakamura, and H. Furusawa for their help in field surveys, T. Hino for providing unpublished data, and K. Tsukamoto for identifying some dung-beetle species. This study was financially supported in part by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no.14206019 and no.14654155) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Kanda, N., Yokota, T., Shibata, E. et al. Diversity of dung-beetle community in declining Japanese subalpine forest caused by an increasing sika deer population. Ecol Res 20, 135–141 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-004-0033-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-004-0033-6