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Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) associated with cattle dung on native grasslands of southern Alberta, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2013

K.D. Floate  and
N. Kadiri
K.D. Floate*
Affiliation:
Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
N. Kadiri
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Zoogéographie, UMR 5175 CEFE, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Route de Mende, 34199 Montpellier cedex 5, France
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: Kevin.Floate@agr.gc.ca).
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Abstract

Surveys of dung beetles establish the dominance of exotic taxa associated with cattle dung on native grasslands in southern Alberta, Canada. Of the 12 species recovered, eight were of European origin and comprised 92.2% of the total catch of 187 963 beetles. Most common were Chilothorax distinctus (Müller), Onthophagus nuchicornis (Linnaeus), and Colobopterus erraticus (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The abundance of C. distinctus has been known in the region since the 1920s, whereas that of O. nuchicornis only was first reported in the 1990s. The abundance of C. erraticus has not previously been observed in the region and identifies the species as the newest addition to the endemic fauna. The diversity of native species on pastures in southern Canada and adjacent states is depauperate, such that the establishment of European taxa has appreciably increased levels of bioturbation in pasture ecosystems. The success of these exotic species on northern pastures may reflect a level of cold-tolerance greater than that of most native species.

Résumé

Les études menées sur les coléoptères coprophages montrent la dominance des taxons exotiques associées aux déjections du bétail dans les prairies natives du sud de l'Alberta, Canada. Sur les douze espèces récoltées, huit étaient d'origine européenne constituant 92,2% du total des 187 963 coléoptères capturés. Les plus fréquentes étaient Chilothorax distinctus (Müller), Onthophagus nuchicornis (Linnaeus) et Colobopterus erraticus (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). L'abondance de C. distinctus est connue dans la région depuis les années 1920, alors que O. nuchicornis n'a été signalée pour la première fois que dans les années 1990. Colobopterus erraticus n'avait pas été observée auparavant dans la région, et l'espèce est considérée comme étant le plus récent ajout à la faune endémique. La diversité des espèces natives dans les pâturages du sud du Canada et des États voisins est appauvrie, compensée par l’établissement de ces taxons d'origine européenne qui ont nettement augmenté les niveaux de bioturbation dans les écosystèmes pâturés. Le succès de ces espèces exotiques dans les pâturages du nord peut refléter un niveau de tolérance au froid supérieur à celui de la plupart des espèces natives.

Type
Biodiversity & Evolution
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 145 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 647 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2013 

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Andrew Smith

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