Area networks for conserving Iberian insects: A case study of dung beetles (col., Scarabaeoidea)

Possibilities to create an efficient network of areas for the conservation of Iberian dung-beetle biodiversity were investigated. Data were taken from ‘BANDASCA’, a 15,740 record dung-beetle database with information for 101,996 specimens. The greatest species richness and phylogenetic diversity are found in the Iberian Central System cordilleras, while those of range-size rarity are in the southernmost corner of the Iberian Peninsula and in the coastal plains of the Guadalquivir basin. Additionally, broad regional score trends of these variables reach a maximum in a smaller northeastern, and a larger southeastern region (Baetic and sub-Baetic mountains). Major Central and Southern Spain dung-beetle hotspots contain many of the UTM grid cells which delimit the near-minimum-set of areas hosting maximum dung-beetle biodiversity scores. They are viewed as the nucleus of a potential network of reserves. A UTM grid cell (30TXK1) where Onthophagus albarracinus, an endemic and demographically rare species inhabits the Sierra of Albarrac´ın and ‘Montes Universales’, was detected as an irreplaceable area. Because of recent land use changes and rapid human-induced habitat transformation threatening dung-beetle fauna, caution should be taken not to recommend an in memoriam network of areas no longer hosting a fauna extinct today. The abandoning of traditional herding management in Europe threatens the preservation of grasslands where dungfeeding beetles play a major ecological role in maintaining pasture quality and livestock health. A return to more traditional herding methods would require stable dung-beetle populations. Any insect conservation planning in Spain would benefit from more biogeographical information for other insect groups.