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Dung beetles are a functionally important group of species, and the effects of large wild herbivores on these species are not well understood. Management of wild herbivores could, therefore, have considerable consequences for dung beetle assemblages and the ecosystem services they provide. Here, we analysed how species richness, biomass, abundance, and composition of dung beetle assemblages were affected by different dung availability as a consequence of different red deer (Cervus elaphus) densities under field conditions. This was done in spring and autumn over four independent study regions in Central Europe where red deer are the most important providers of dung in forests. Our results show that forest sites with high dung availability support higher species richness of dung beetles than sites with low availability. This effect is independent of season and could be explained by the different colonisation patterns of beetle species which vary in their competitiveness. As aggregated dung resources increase opportunities for low-competitive species, those species establish small populations and do not necessarily increase the abundance of the whole assemblage. Our results show that the current policies to limit deer populations also limit higher levels of species diversity of this functionally important arthropod taxon. We highlight the importance of hunting-free areas for the conservation of insect diversity associated with large herbivores. In strictly protected areas with low herbivore densities we suggest to reduce control of ungulate numbers to provide sufficient resources for maintaining dung beetle diversity.

Here we present the first checklist of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Kellerwald-Edersee National Park in the federal state of Hesse in Germany. After 10 years of investigation, 1107 species have been recorded. Thus far, efforts have led to the detection of 44 species of interest according to the criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), 10 species with nature value based on a European scale, and 16 nature-value species on a German scale. Sixty-four threatened species are listed on the German red list of fungi, and 147 species are listed on the regional red list of the federal state of Hesse. As part of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Ancient Beech Forests of Germany and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park represents the typical European natural beech forest on poor soil with old tree stands and relict primeval forest fragments. The presence of nature-value species in the beech (Fagus sylvatica)-dominant Kellerwald-Edersee and Hainich national parks shows the development of their forest ecosystems to near naturalness comparable to the primeval forests of the Poloniny National Park in Slovakia.

In this paper descriptions of three new Laccaria species from Southwest China (Yunnan) are reported. Macromorphological, micromorphological, and molecular data have been studied to describe the new species and delineate them within the genus Laccaria. The first species Laccaria fulvogrisea is characterized by a grey to brownish coloured fruiting body and large echinulate spores. Laccaria aurantia is characterized by the deeply orange colour and globose balloon-like spores with a fine echinulate ornament. The third species Laccaria yunnanensis has large barrel-shaped pleurocystidia and a brownish to flesh-coloured fruiting body. All three species have 4-spored basidia and were found near or within Quercus and Lithocarpus mixed broad leaved forests at an altitude of above 2,000 m.