Presiones sobre las comunidades de escarabajos peloteros ocasionadas por prácticas ganaderas en El Carmen, Loja

Globally, around 50% of the Earth's surface has been modified by human activities, replacing natural systems with agroecosystems used for livestock farming, which has drastically impacted soil fauna, including dung beetles. These beetles are considered essential in livestock systems due to their role in the suppression and removal of dung. This study focuses on understanding livestock management practices, the species of dung beetles present, and the specific sources of pressure that pose significant threats to these taxa on farms in the El Carmen neighborhood, Loja province. Interviews regarding livestock management were conducted with the owners of nine farms in the neighborhood. To analyze species richness and abundance, two sampling events were carried out in March and April 2024. On each farm, two plots were established, each with four baited pitfall traps using human dung, placed in both forest patches and pastureland. Additionally, unpublished data on scarabaeines deposited in the LOUNAZ Zoology Museum collected at the same sites in December 2022 and January 2023 were considered. These data were analyzed using the Conservation Area Planning (CAP) methodology, considering the dung beetles as conservation objects, to identify pressures and their sources. A total of 1,389 individuals from three species were recorded: Onthophagus curvicornis, Uroxys frankenbergeri, and Onoreidium cristatum, the abundance varied significantly across different vegetation cover types, although species richness remained constant. The CAP identified the expansion of grazing areas, intensive use of antiparasitics, and agrochemicals as the primary threats to these insects. It was found that negative practices are more significant than positive ones, despite the proximity of the sector to the Madrigal del Podocarpus reserve. The few registered species are continuously threatened, and these harmful actions could make impossible to recover these degraded areas if the identified activities are not improved.

• 主要作者: Romero Riofrío, Steven Andrés (author)
• 格式: bachelorThesis
• 语言: spa
• 出版: 2024
• 主题: SIATEMAS GANADEROS; BOSQUE; DIVERSIDAD
• 在线阅读: https://dspace.unl.edu.ec/jspui/handle/123456789/31440