The Most Attractive Is Not Always the Preferred: Lessons From Necrophagous Dung Beetle Assemblages in a Region of the Central Amazon

ABSTRACT Resource attractiveness and preference is determinant to assess how biodiversity is structured in different ecosystems. Necrophagy is the alternative or complementary dietary habit of dung beetles, but a few studies have focused on evaluating how different carrion types attract different sp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and evolution 2024-12, Vol.14 (12), p.e70766-n/a
Main Authors: Costa, Mirella Lima, Salomão, Renato Portela, Rodrigues Alencar, Janderson Batista, Albuquerque Correa, César Murilo, Iannuzzi, Luciana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon rainforest
Attraction
bait preference
Baits
Beetles
Biodiversity
Biodiversity Ecology
carcass
Carrion
Cattle
Coleoptera
Community Ecology
dead corpse
Dry season
Dung
Entomology
Experiments
Fish
Food
Food preferences
Forests
Freshwater fish
Liver
Pitfall traps
Rain
Sampling
Sampling designs
Scarabaeinae
Spleen
Taxonomy
Trophic Interactions
trophic plasticity
Vertebrates
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Resource attractiveness and preference is determinant to assess how biodiversity is structured in different ecosystems. Necrophagy is the alternative or complementary dietary habit of dung beetles, but a few studies have focused on evaluating how different carrion types attract different species. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of carrion type on attractiveness and preference of dung beetle taxonomic diversity in a region of Central Amazon. Pitfall traps baited with bovine spleen, chicken liver, and fish (freshwater sardine) were installed. Bait attractiveness was estimated through a sampling design that kept exclusively one food type in the field, while bait preference comprised a sampling design with more than one food type offered simultaneously in a concentrated area. We collected 3151 individuals from 24 dung beetle species. Bovine spleen was the most attractive bait in both food preference and food attractiveness experiments, being the only carrion type in which species demonstrated preference. Each carrion type attracted distinct dung beetle assemblages. This study demonstrates that Amazonian dung beetles prefer specific carrion types, which serves as a basis for future studies related to dung beetle diet. Dung beetles are differently attracted toward carrion types. Bovine spleen attracts more dung beetles than chicken and fish meat.
ISSN:2045-7758
2045-7758
DOI:10.1002/ece3.70766