Dung preference and trophic association of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in the moist forests of the South-western Ghats of the Indian subcontinent

Abstract

• Quantitative dung beetle-feeding trophic networks from the Western Ghats in India. • Dung-association pattern and dietary specificity at native mammalian species level. • Assemblage of few dung specialists, species with preferences and more generalists. • Low overall specialisation and low resource partitioning. • Boar dung availability: crucial for sustainability rare species. First quantitative dung beetle-feeding trophic network analysis for the Oriental region is carried out by investigating trophic network interaction between dung beetles and mammal dung types in the moist forests of the Western Ghats a global biodiversity hot spot in south-western India. Dung-beetle assemblage associated with the dung of the prominent mammals, such as the macaque, boar, gaur, elephant and deer, showed differences in richness, abundance and composition among different dung types. Most dung beetles were generalists with low resource specificity and community-wide generalist feeding on herbivore and omnivore dung types. Dung beetles in the region displayed high species richness and abundance in boar dung. The high attraction and specificity of dung beetles towards the odoriferous boar dung indicate that the omnivore mammal Sus scrofa has a major role in maintaining the dung beetle community in the forests of the Western Ghats. Network interaction analysis shows that the vast majority in the assemblage are generalist species, and the few specialist species were all with low abundance. Low overall specialisation and low resource partitioning with high species richness is recorded in the assemblage. The assemblage's trophic level preference is reflected in the high dung specificity recorded in the omnivore and herbivore dung types.