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RAPID RECOVERY OF DUNG BEETLE COMMUNITIES FOLLOWING HABITAT FRAGMENTATION IN CENTRAL AMAZONIA

RAPID RECOVERY OF DUNG BEETLE COMMUNITIES FOLLOWING HABITAT FRAGMENTATION IN CENTRAL AMAZONIA Few studies have directly assessed how rapidly functionally important insect communities recover following rain forest loss and fragmentation. In 1986, B. Klein compared the dung and carrion beetle assemblages of clearcuts, fragmented, and non-fragmented forests in central Amazonia, reporting drastic short-term changes in community composition. Fifteen years later, we resampled the same sites using identical techniques and found that, with the regrowth of secondary vegetation between forest fragments, the initial differences had largely disappeared. As the secondary vegetation itself supports dung beetle assemblages similar to those of continuous forest, we conclude that, from the perspective of the dung beetles, the experimentally fragmented area had returned to a continuous state within approximately one decade. These results offer some good news for the conservation of tropical ecosystems, since they suggest that conditions favorable for functionally important arthropods may be quickly restored by secondary regrowth. They also suggest that the preservation of forest fragments and secondary vegetation may provide an important complement to the conservation of intact mature forest. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Ecology Ecological Society of America

RAPID RECOVERY OF DUNG BEETLE COMMUNITIES FOLLOWING HABITAT FRAGMENTATION IN CENTRAL AMAZONIA

Ecology , Volume 86 (12) – Dec 1, 2005

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References (56)

Publisher
Ecological Society of America
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by the Ecological Society of America
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0012-9658
DOI
10.1890/04-1960
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Few studies have directly assessed how rapidly functionally important insect communities recover following rain forest loss and fragmentation. In 1986, B. Klein compared the dung and carrion beetle assemblages of clearcuts, fragmented, and non-fragmented forests in central Amazonia, reporting drastic short-term changes in community composition. Fifteen years later, we resampled the same sites using identical techniques and found that, with the regrowth of secondary vegetation between forest fragments, the initial differences had largely disappeared. As the secondary vegetation itself supports dung beetle assemblages similar to those of continuous forest, we conclude that, from the perspective of the dung beetles, the experimentally fragmented area had returned to a continuous state within approximately one decade. These results offer some good news for the conservation of tropical ecosystems, since they suggest that conditions favorable for functionally important arthropods may be quickly restored by secondary regrowth. They also suggest that the preservation of forest fragments and secondary vegetation may provide an important complement to the conservation of intact mature forest.

Journal

EcologyEcological Society of America

Published: Dec 1, 2005

Keywords: Amazonas ; Brazil ; dung beetle ; forest fragmentation ; matrix habitat ; rain forest ; recovery ; secondary vegetation

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