Abstract
Variation with altitude in the composition of dung beetle assemblages and species richness was measured by sampling in spring, summer and autumn, both manually and with pitfall traps at twelve localities in the western Rhodopes Mountains. Non- parametric estimates indicate that most of the regional species pool was collected, some 73% of all taxa previously recorded in the entire region. The rate of species richness decrease with altitude is around 11 species per km, with an evident altitudinal change in the incidence of two main dung beetle functional groups in which Aphodiinae species begin to dominate Rhodopes assemblages at around 1400-1500 m. Species richness of dung pats is dominated by Scarabaeinae in spite of the fact that the number of Aphodiinae species is highest at each locality. Thus, Aphodiinae species are the main contributors to both local and regional pool richness and to species turnover between localities. These characteristics are similar to those observed in the assemblages from another European mountain range, also located near the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian boundary, the Iberian Central System. These results suggest that eastern European dung beetle assemblages are similar in compositional turnover and species richness variation with altitude to that observed in western Europe and North America.
Highlights
Biogeographers, long ago described the species richness and composition changes that occur with altitude (Humboldt, 1805; Merriam, 1894), and it is widely recognized that both environmental conditions and historical factors play an important role in explaining such variation (Brown & Lomolino, 1998)
Aphodiinae species are the main contributors to both local and regional pool richness and to species turnover between localities. These characteristics are similar to those observed in the assemblages from another European mountain range, located near the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian boundary, the Iberian Central System. These results suggest that eastern European dung beetle assemblages are similar in compositional turnover and species richness variation with altitude to that observed in western Europe and North America
A previous comparison of six European mountain zones (Jay-Robert et al, 1997) indicate that Rhodopes dung beetle assemblages are rich in species
Summary
Biogeographers, long ago described the species richness and composition changes that occur with altitude (Humboldt, 1805; Merriam, 1894), and it is widely recognized that both environmental conditions and historical factors play an important role in explaining such variation (Brown & Lomolino, 1998). Geotrupinae – but mainly Aphodiinae – species generally dominate in north-temperate regions and at high altitudes, while Scarabaeinae species dominate in the Mediterranean region and in the lowlands (see Hanski, 1986; Martin-Piera et al, 1992; Halffter et al, 1995; Jay-Robert et al, 1997; Lobo, 2000; Lobo & Halffter, 2000; Errouissi et al, 2004; Escobar et al, 2005, 2006). This may be the consequence of the colonization of the south by northern lineages, favoured by the climate changes that occurred in the Pleistocene (Jay-Robert et al, 1997; Lobo & Halffter, 2000; Escobar et al, 2006). This study of the variation with altitude in faunistic composition and species richness in the western Rhodopes Mountains, near the oriental Euromediterranean region, aims to: corroborate patterns established for other western European mountain assemblages; discuss the general characteristics of these mountain assemblages; and determine the altitudinal variation in species richness, abundance and composition of the main dung beetle groups
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