Landscape's influence on assemblages of the Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in an agricultural environment in the south of Santa Catarina

Abstract

Legal reserves aim to conserve native forests and ecological processes, and are able to form heterogeneous mosaics in the landscape. This study aimed to describe and compare assemblages of coprophagous dung beetles to better understand the distribution of species within the landscape. Sampling was conducted in the municipality of Içara (SC) in 2014, within environments of native forests, plantations of eucalyptus and corn, and pastures. We used 10 traps to capture live insects at each site, collected after 48 hours. A total of 704 individuals were collected, including 16 Scarabaeinae species, where the most abundant were: Onthophagus catharinensis (n=213), Canthon smaragdulus (n=128) and Canthidium aff. trinodosum (n=112). Bray-Curtis similarity grouped the assemblages of forest environments with each other (78% similarity) but not with those from areas with eucalyptus plantations or from open areas. Species with a high individual indicator value were found for forest environments and open areas. The connection area between forests was very important in connecting native forest areas and aiding in the conservation of species. As expected, the results confirm that more preserved environments conserve a greater biodiversity; however, other landscape components contribute to regional diversity.

Keywords

• Bioindicadores
• Conservação
• Ecologia de paisagem
• Fragmentação
• Mata Atlântica