Dung beetles is a group of coprophagous beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. Dung beetles have an important function by improving nutrient circulation and biological control of parasites. Dung is a short-lived resource, making dung beetles tied to habitats continuously grazed. Decline in pasture combined with shorter grazing seasons has resulted in a decrease in available dung. Other reasons can be the use of chemicals to control internal parasites on the grazing animals. This has contributed to the fact that half of the dung beetles in Sweden are endangered. The aim of the present study was to analyze data on dung beetles from the County Administration Board in Östergötland and see if species communities have changed between 2001-2019. In addition, the effect of sand as soil type was studied by comparing the species richness between pastures with and without sand. Analysis whether there was any variation among species richness and species communities depending of grazing animals was also performed. Results showed that the number of species had increased over time and that changes in species communities had occurred. Pastures with sand had more species, however, the amount of sand in the nearest surroundings was of less importance. Dung beetles were found to have a preference when choosing dung-type. Pastures with dung from multiple species of grazing animals were found having the highest species richness. Studies on this would clarify even further what seems to favor dung beetles, this could then be applied to other areas to counteract the loss of species.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-166638 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Youssif, Claud |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Biologi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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