Assembly of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) - inhabitants sheep dung in the northern spurs of the Manchurian-Korean Mountains (Russian Far East)
S. A. SHABALIN
Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity of FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia
Keywords: dung beetles, assembly, biodiversity, season al dyn amic, niches interception, Primorsky Krai
Abstract
N the northern spurs of the Manchurian-Korean Mountains (Primorsky Territory), an assembly of dung beetles from sheep dung was studied. Data on the species composition, population dynamics, number and biomass of dung beetles are presented. Comparison of assemblages of dung beetles of the inhabitants of sheep dung of the northern spurs of the Manchurian-Korean Mountains and the South Sikhote-Alin Mountains shows that despite the fact that both groups were formed on the base of one local fauna and have the same number of species, but the taxonomic structure and dynamic (seasonal) aspects are quite different. Differences in the species composition and composition of trophodynamic groups are due to the peculiarities of the geographic location, different weather and climatic conditions, grazing regime and differences in the composition of grazed animals, historical factors of the formation and dynamics of beetle assemblages. Weather conditions, as a factor influencing the rehydration of sheep droppings, determines the dynamic processes in assemblages and limits the penetration of certain species into the Sikhote-Alin Mountain system. A small size of sheep excrements, which are both trophic and topical resources, determines a high transformation rate of the substrate and the distribution of species according to a hypothesis of niche interception. The overlapping of niches in species from the same trophodynamic groups leads to a shift in the timing of the imaginal activity of certain species
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