Copro-necro phagous beetles (scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in differentland use at la reserva campesina la montaña (RCM) in the deparment of atlántico, Colombia

The spatio-temporal variation of dung beetles (Scarabaeinae) assemblages in different land use (culture, pasture, edge and interior of forest) at La Reserva Campesina La Montaña (RCM) during the rainy and the dry season in 2009-2010 was analized. For each land use was located a linear transect, where 10 points distanced 50 m each other were marked; with pitfall traps bait human and monkey (Alouatta seniculus) excrement and decaying fish placed in each point. 15.636 individuals distributed in 12 genera and 24 species were captured, of which the most abundant were Canthon aff. morsei and Uroxys deavilai with 3,465 and 7.292 individuals respectively, accounting for 69% of the total abundance for the study area. The highest values of richness were observed during the rainy season in 2009-2010 in all habitats (14-20 species) and the lowest during the dry season (7 species) at culture and pasture. With the non-metric multidimensional analysis (nMDS) was determined that the fragment forest and edge are part of a homogeneous group in terms of species composition that differs to the culture and pasture. It is shown that these last two habitats maintain a high number of species of Scarabaeinae during the rainy season, although during the dry season the richness and diversity is reduced drastically, demonstrating that dung beetles use them seasonally.