Effect of uncontrolled forest fires on the coprophagous beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in a temperate forest in central Mexico

This paper examines the effect of changes in vegetation and soil, resulting from an uncontrolled forest fire, in the dung beetles assemblage (Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae) in a temperate forest in central Mexico. In burned, unburned, and edge sites, soil and vegetation characteristics were measured, and dung beetles were sampled monthly (including over 2 rainy seasons). A total of 6 786 specimens of 6 species were obtained. Both subfamilies were more abundant at the burned and edge sites, though these differences were not significant. The texture, relative humidity and carbon and nitrogen content of the soil were significantly different, as were the dominance-diversity relationships for the dung beetles assemblages among sites. Monthly species abundance varied significantly among species, months and their interaction. Although the fire did not appear to have a significant impact on the dung beetle assemblage in the short term, there was a significant decrease in the abundance of species during the second rainy season. © 2014, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. All rights reserved.