| Author | Beynon, A.E., Mann, D.J., Slade, E.M. & Lewis, O.T. |
| Year | 2012 |
| Title | Species-rich dung beetle communities buffer ecosystem services in perturbed agro-ecosystems |
| Type | Paper |
| Source | Journal of Applied Ecology Vol 49: 1365-1372. |
| Review (by Malcolm Storey) | Created artificial dung beetle colonies by adding varying numbers of species of beetles to artificial cow pats. The aim was to investigate the effect of dung beetle diversity on dung decomposition rates, both in the presence and absence of ivermectin. In the short term (1-4 weeks), ivermectin-treated dung decayed more rapidly in species-rich cultures than in mono-cultures, but no difference was observed in the absence of ivermectin. This is intepreted as being due to the diversity of species including species which were more tolerant of ivermectin. Over the longer term, (36 weeks) species richness was correlated with decay rate in all cultures whether ivermectin was present or not. |
| Notes & Purpose | Status | Taxon | English | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Bos taurus | Cattle, Domestic Cattle | Animalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae | |
| Current | SCARABAEOIDEA | scarabs, dung and stag beetles | Animalia: Coleoptera | |
| Current | APHODIINAE | a subfamily of dung beetles | Animalia: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae |
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