Acacia woodlots, cattle and dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in a Mexican silvopastoral landscape

Resumen

In landscapes where tropical dry forest was once the dominant vegetation type, traditional silvopastoral
systems generate a range of natural and semi-natural habitats, namely fragments of secondary forest and fallow land
in various stages of succession; essentially Acacia woodlots. This level of heterogeneity seems to favor the arrival
and persistence of a large number of Scarabaeinae species. Changes in dung and carrion beetle assemblages were
assessed in a silvopastoral landscape in Chiapas, Mexico by intensive sampling using baited pitfall traps. Total species
richness decreased from late successional habitats to early successional habitats and average abundance per site was
higher in the intermediate successional stages. The silvopastoral system studied is very dynamic; its components may
remain constant or change over time, depending on management. These changing conditions lead to a variable local
species richness and allow the permeability of certain species within the landscape. There was high species turnover
among successional habitats, generating a gamma diversity similar to that of tropical dry forest landscapes and 2-fold
higher than the highest recorded alpha diversity value. Silvopastoral systems can buffer the adverse effects of rapid
expansion of open areas and the consequent reduction of tropical dry forest area generated by technified conventional
systems.