Species composition and functional guilds of dung beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in different vegetational types in the Brazilian Shield-Chacoan Depression Border

• Published in: Annales de la Société entomologique de France 2014-04, Vol.50 (2), p.183-190
• Main Authors: Daniel, Gimo Mazembe, Nunes, Luís G.O.A., Vaz-de-Mello, Fernando Z.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; biogeographic transition zone; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; geographical distribution; habitat; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems
• ISSN: 0037-9271; 2168-6351
• DOI: 10.1080/00379271.2014.938936

The present study was carried out in Chapada dos Guimarães (Brazilian Shield-Chacoan Depression Border), Mato Grosso, Brazil. In this paper we describe the species and composition of dung beetles in different vegetational environments in the Brazilian Shield-Chacoan Depression Border, to associate species present in each habitat to their known distributions, in order to determine whether this region is a biogeographic transition zone. We also update the first checklist of dung beetles from this region published over a century ago. We collected 17,635 individuals of dung beetles belonging to 98 species. Dung beetle fauna responded to the abrupt variation of altitude; in the upland savanna formations we observed species which are predominantly distributed in the Cerrado biogeographic province, whilst the lowland savanna formations were mainly constituted by species which are commonly distributed in the provinces of Chaco or Chaco + Cerrado. Forest formations harbor species which occur frequently in the Amazon sub-region. Due to several overlapped biotic components and also associated with the local endemism records, we regard the region as a biogeographic transition zone for dung beetles.