Quantifying the post‐fire recovery of taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles in the Brazilian Pantanal

• Published in: Ecological entomology 2022-08, Vol.47 (4), p.601-612
• Main Authors: Gonçalves, Tais Félix, Correa, César M. A., Audino, Lívia D., Vaz‐de‐Mello, Fernando Z., Fontoura, Fernanda M., Guedes, Neiva M. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beetles; Biodiversity; biodiversity conservation; Bioindicators; Burning; burning sites; Coleoptera; Composition; Dung; Ecological function; Environmental restoration; Fire damage; Grasslands; grasslands restoration; High resistance; Indicator species; Insect ecology; Insects; livestock management; Nutrient cycles; Recovery of function; Restoration; Scarabaeinae; Taxonomy; wetlands; Wildlife; World Heritage Areas
• ISSN: 0307-6946; 1365-2311
• DOI: 10.1111/een.13144

The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world and a World Heritage Site. During 2019–2020, the Pantanal has experienced the most severe burning in its history, with vast destroyed areas of vegetation and killed wildlife. Since the long‐term damage caused by fire to the Pantanal is still unknown, understanding how the biodiversity responds to post‐fire disturbance over a short‐term is an important step for conservation initiatives. The authors studied the effects of fire on dung beetle communities, a recognised bioindicator group, in the Brazilian Pantanal. For this, the authors assessed the patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity between unburned and burned sites (16 months post‐fire). The authors found that taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles were similar between unburned and burned grasslands, but with a distinct taxonomic composition post‐fire. The functional traits composition was similar between unburned and burned sites, demonstrating that this metric is less sensitive to fire effects in the Brazilian Pantanal. The study's results provide evidence that dung beetles exhibit high resistance to the occurrence of fire and fast recovery from its consequences. Thus, due to its ecological functions (secondary seed dispersion, nutrient cycling and others), these insects may assist ecological restoration of burned sites, being useful tools in restoration approaches for areas of the Pantanal that have been affected by fire. Finally, combining traditional taxonomic community attributes with functional diversity measurements provides a more comprehensive picture of responses of dung beetle communities, post‐fire, over a short‐term in the Brazilian Pantanal. This study evaluated, for the first time, the impacts of fire on dung beetle communities in the Brazilian Pantanal. Taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles were similar between unburned and burned grasslands. Dung beetles exhibit high resistance to the occurrence of fire in the Brazilian Pantanal and fast recovery from its consequences.