Response of dung beetle diversity to remediation of soil ecosystems in the Ecuadorian Amazon

PeerJ

article

Wilmer E. Pozo-Rivera¹  Carlos Quiloango-Chimarro¹  Xavier Paredes¹  Mario Landívar¹  Carlos Chiriboga¹  Daniel Hidalgo³  Karina García³  Jaime Villacís¹ 

[1]Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas

[2]Department of Biosystems Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo-USP

[3]Centro de Investigación de Tecnologías Ambientales del Proyecto Amazonía Viva

关键词: Scarabaeinae;    Tropical rain forest;    Degradation;    Ecological restoration;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14975

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Efforts to alleviate the negative effects of oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon include remediation activities such as cleaning, reshaping, and revegetation of polluted areas. However, studies of the diversity of biological communities in these hydrocarbon-degraded ecosystems have never been carried out. Here, we evaluated the diversity of dung beetles on remediated soil ecosystems (Agricultural Soils and Sensitive Ecosystems) and on non-contaminated soils (Natural Forests and Palm Plantations). Methodology The study was conducted in Sucumbíos and Orellana provinces, in the Ecuadorian Amazon at four sampling sites per ecosystem type (a total of 16 sites). At each sampling site, six pitfall traps remained active for 120 consecutive h per month for 1 year. Results We collected 37 species and 7,506 individuals of dung beetles. We observed significant differences in mean species abundance, richness, and diversity between non-contaminated soil ecosystems and remediated soil ecosystems, with Natural Forests presenting the highest values, and Agricultural Soils the lowest values. Regarding sampling month, we also found significant differences among ecosystems, which were also higher in Natural Forests. Discussion The results suggest that hydrocarbon-degraded ecosystems tend to conserve lower beetle diversity one year after remediation highlighting the importance of Natural Forests for the conservation of tropical biodiversity. Therefore, dung beetle diversity could be used for future landscape management of these hydrocarbon-degraded ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY