Ecological functions and ecosystem services provided by Scarabaeinae dung beetles

By Elizabeth S Nichols, S. Spector, J. Louzada, T. Larsen, S. Amezquita, M. Favila. 2008

856 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Nature and Landscape Conservation, Paleontology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5faac2005f1515755b0d324e4f1698606cb0087a

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. T. Gardner
2. C. A. Peres
3. Joaquín Hortal
4. Peter B. Reich
5. Elizabeth S Nichols
6. J. Emmett Duffy
7. Shucun Sun
8. J. Noriega

In Paleontology

1. Joaquín Hortal
2. C. A. Peres
3. T. Gardner
4. Elizabeth S Nichols
5. R. B. Jackson
6. J. Emmett Duffy
7. Peter B. Reich
8. S. Spector

In Plant Science

1. Peter B. Reich
2. Shucun Sun
3. Joaquín Hortal
4. C. A. Peres
5. R. B. Jackson
6. J. Emmett Duffy
7. S. Spector
8. Rosa Menéndez

Citations in the corpus

• Human perturbations reduce dung beetle diversity and dung removal ecosystem function (2021, background): “Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) contribute to several ecosystem services, like nutrient cycling, bioturbation, secondary seed dispersal, parasite suppression, among others (e.g., Andresen & Feer, 2005; Nichols et al., 2008; Badenhorst et al., 2018; DeCastro- Arrazola et al., 2020).”
• A brown‐world cascade in the dung decomposer food web of an alpine meadow: effects of predator interactions and warming (2011, background): “Thus, the decomposition rate of plant detritus (e.g., plant litter and excrement of large herbivores such as cattle) is critical to ecosystem nutrient cycling and primary production (Cebrian 2004, Nichols et al. 2008).”
• Cascading extinctions as a hidden driver of insect decline (2020, background): “This indirect loss of dung beetles will disrupt the ecological services which they provide such as nutrient cycling, bioturbation, plant growth enhancement, secondary seed dispersal, and parasite control (Nichols et al., 2008).”
• Co‐declining mammals and dung beetles: an impending ecological cascade (2009, background): “This manipulation, relocation and consumption of mammal feces contributes to a series of ecological functions, including nutrient cycling, parasite suppression, soil aeration and secondary dispersal of intact seeds expelled in mammal dung (Nichols et al. 2008).”
• The Ecology of Soil Carbon: Pools, Vulnerabilities, and Biotic and Abiotic Controls (2017, background): “Thus, it is not surprising that fragmentation of intact tropical forest ecosystems, which strongly decreases population sizes of forest-dwelling dung beetles, decreases soil nutrient availability and tree productivity (Nichols et al. 2008).”
• Climate change and elevational range shifts: Evidence from dung beetles in two European mountain ranges (2014, background): “630 species in the Western Palaearctic; Cabrero-Sañudo & Lobo, 2003) that is functionally important both in natural and agricultural systems (Nichols et al., 2008) and is highly sensitive to environmental conditions (Lobo et al.”