Seasonality, Distribution, and Diversity of Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae, Aphodiinae and Geotrupidae: Geotrupinae) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

Abstract

Dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae, Aphodiinae and Geotrupidae: Geotrupinae) communities provide crucial ecosystem services in a diverse range of habitats. As part of their breeding activities, dung beetles remove portions of a dung source and bury them under the soil. This behavior adds nutrients to the soil, aerates the soil, and disperses seeds. Dung beetle species are numerous in forest, prairie, savanna, and pasture ecosystems across the globe, but dung beetle communities vary across elevational gradients and habitat types. A variety of dung beetle species are native to the southeast region of the USA, yet we have limited knowledge of the life history and community assemblage of these species. Previous research on southeastern dung beetles has focused primarily on censusing the species inhabiting agricultural pasture land; bioinventories of dung beetle communities in the Appalachian Mountain regions are thus incomplete. To fill this knowledge gap, a census of dung beetles was performed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee, USA), quantifying differences in abundance and distribution across season, habitat type, and elevation. Using pitfall traps baited with cattle dung for 24-h periods, dung beetles were collected and identified from six plots once every two weeks during April through September 2017. This research determined that communities of dung beetles varied both temporally and geographically. Low-elevation communities were more diverse than high-elevation communities, and high-elevation communities were dominated by non-native species. Population abundance peaked in late summer at both low and high elevations.