Carcasses at Fixed Locations Host a Higher Diversity of Necrophilous Beetles

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F21%3A10439322" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/21:10439322 - isvavai.cz</a>

Nalezeny alternativní kódy

RIV/60460709:41330/21:85824

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=-7M~2SOpl3" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=-7M~2SOpl3</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12050412" target="_blank" >10.3390/insects12050412</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Carcasses at Fixed Locations Host a Higher Diversity of Necrophilous Beetles

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Simple Summary Whereas vertebrate scavengers have a higher diversity reported at randomly placed carcasses, the drivers of insect diversity on carrion, such as the exposure type (fixed versus random) or the carrion species, are still incompletely understood. We analyzed beetle diversity at differently exposed carcasses in the low-range mountain forest of the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany. We tested if scavenging beetles, similarly to vertebrate scavengers, show a higher diversity at randomly placed carcasses compared to easily manageable fixed places. Ninety-two beetle species at 29 exposed wildlife carcasses (roe, red deer, and red foxes) were detected. Beetle diversity was higher at fixed locations possessing extended highly nutrient-rich cadaver decomposition islands as important refuges for threatened red-listed species, such as Necrobia violacea (Coleoptera: Cleridae). Particularly noticeable in our insect traps were the following two rare species, the &quot;primitive&quot; carrion beetle Necrophilus subterraneus (Coleoptera: Agyrtidae) and the false clown beetle Sphaerites glabratus (Coleoptera: Sphaeritidae). In Europe, only the species S. glabratus out of the genus Sphaerites is present. This emphasizes the importance of carrion for biodiversity conservation. We clearly show the relevance of leaving and additional providing wildlife carcasses in a dedicated place in protected forests for preserving very rare and threatened beetle species as essential members of the decomposing community. In contrast to other necromass, such as leaves, deadwood, or dung, the drivers of insect biodiversity on carcasses are still incompletely understood. For vertebrate scavengers, a richer community was shown for randomly placed carcasses, due to lower competition. Here we tested if scavenging beetles similarly show a higher diversity at randomly placed carcasses compared to easily manageable fixed places. We sampled 12,879 individuals and 92 species of scavenging beetles attracted to 17 randomly and 12 at fixed places exposed and decomposing carcasses of red deer, roe deer, and red foxes compared to control sites in a low range mountain forest. We used rarefaction-extrapolation curves along the Hill-series to weight diversity from rare to dominant species and indicator species analysis to identify differences between placement types, the decay stage, and carrion species. Beetle diversity decreased from fixed to random locations, becoming increasingly pronounced with weighting of dominant species. In addition, we found only two indicator species for exposure location type, both representative of fixed placement locations and both red listed species, namely Omosita depressa and Necrobia violacea. Furthermore, we identified three indicator species of Staphylinidae (Philonthus marginatus and Oxytelus laqueatus) and Scarabaeidae (Melinopterus prodromus) for larger carrion and one geotrupid species Anoplotrupes stercorosus for advanced decomposition stages. Our study shows that necrophilous insect diversity patterns on carcasses over decomposition follow different mechanisms than those of vertebrate scavengers with permanently established carrion islands as important habitats for a diverse and threatened insect fauna.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Carcasses at Fixed Locations Host a Higher Diversity of Necrophilous Beetles

Popis výsledku anglicky

Simple Summary Whereas vertebrate scavengers have a higher diversity reported at randomly placed carcasses, the drivers of insect diversity on carrion, such as the exposure type (fixed versus random) or the carrion species, are still incompletely understood. We analyzed beetle diversity at differently exposed carcasses in the low-range mountain forest of the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany. We tested if scavenging beetles, similarly to vertebrate scavengers, show a higher diversity at randomly placed carcasses compared to easily manageable fixed places. Ninety-two beetle species at 29 exposed wildlife carcasses (roe, red deer, and red foxes) were detected. Beetle diversity was higher at fixed locations possessing extended highly nutrient-rich cadaver decomposition islands as important refuges for threatened red-listed species, such as Necrobia violacea (Coleoptera: Cleridae). Particularly noticeable in our insect traps were the following two rare species, the &quot;primitive&quot; carrion beetle Necrophilus subterraneus (Coleoptera: Agyrtidae) and the false clown beetle Sphaerites glabratus (Coleoptera: Sphaeritidae). In Europe, only the species S. glabratus out of the genus Sphaerites is present. This emphasizes the importance of carrion for biodiversity conservation. We clearly show the relevance of leaving and additional providing wildlife carcasses in a dedicated place in protected forests for preserving very rare and threatened beetle species as essential members of the decomposing community. In contrast to other necromass, such as leaves, deadwood, or dung, the drivers of insect biodiversity on carcasses are still incompletely understood. For vertebrate scavengers, a richer community was shown for randomly placed carcasses, due to lower competition. Here we tested if scavenging beetles similarly show a higher diversity at randomly placed carcasses compared to easily manageable fixed places. We sampled 12,879 individuals and 92 species of scavenging beetles attracted to 17 randomly and 12 at fixed places exposed and decomposing carcasses of red deer, roe deer, and red foxes compared to control sites in a low range mountain forest. We used rarefaction-extrapolation curves along the Hill-series to weight diversity from rare to dominant species and indicator species analysis to identify differences between placement types, the decay stage, and carrion species. Beetle diversity decreased from fixed to random locations, becoming increasingly pronounced with weighting of dominant species. In addition, we found only two indicator species for exposure location type, both representative of fixed placement locations and both red listed species, namely Omosita depressa and Necrobia violacea. Furthermore, we identified three indicator species of Staphylinidae (Philonthus marginatus and Oxytelus laqueatus) and Scarabaeidae (Melinopterus prodromus) for larger carrion and one geotrupid species Anoplotrupes stercorosus for advanced decomposition stages. Our study shows that necrophilous insect diversity patterns on carcasses over decomposition follow different mechanisms than those of vertebrate scavengers with permanently established carrion islands as important habitats for a diverse and threatened insect fauna.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10613 - Zoology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach<br>I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2021

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Insects [online]

ISSN

2075-4450

e-ISSN

—

Svazek periodika

12

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

5

Stát vydavatele periodika

CH - Švýcarská konfederace

Počet stran výsledku

18

Strana od-do

412

Kód UT WoS článku

000653970400001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85105973906