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Coilodes Westwood, 1846 is a Neotropical genus of Hybosorinae. Despite being a morphologically homogeneous genus, it presents a great deal of intraspecific variation, especially with reference to the colour of integuments. This makes identification of species even more difficult, since the majority of original descriptions present the colour as the main diagnostic character. To solve this problem, the first taxonomic revision of Coilodes is presented. The genus now comprises 13 species. Redescriptions of C. castaneus Westwood, 1846, C. fumipennis Arrow, 1909, C. humeralis (Mannerheim, 1829), C. niger (Mannerheim, 1829), C. ovalis Robinson, 1948, C. parvulus Westwood, 1846, and C. punctipennis Arrow, 1909 are presented. Coilodes niger (Mannerheim, 1829) has its status revalidated and three new synonyms are proposed: C. gibbus (Perty, 1830) and C. chilensis Westwood, 1846 with C. humeralis, and C. nigripennis Arrow, 1903 with C. castaneus. Biological and geographical distribution data are expanded. Lectotypes are designated for C. humeralis and C. niger. Six new species are described: C. bezerrai Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. edeiltae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. lunae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. mayae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. ravii Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., and C. skelleyi Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov. An identification key for the males of the species is presented.

Tropical forest biodiversity is being threatened by human activities, and species losses during forest disturbance can compromise important ecosystem functions and services. We assessed how species losses due to tropical forest disturbance affect community functional structure, using Amazonian dung beetles as a model group. We collected empirical data from 106 forest transects and used simulated extinction scenarios to determine how species loss influences community structure at regional and local scales. Although functional and taxonomic community metrics were largely unaffected by primary forest disturbance, they differed markedly between primary and secondary forests. However, our extinction scenarios demonstrated scale-dependence of species losses, whereby functional structure only eroded with species extinction at the local scale. Hence, we extend the spatial insurance hypothesis by demonstrating that landscape-scale functional redundancy offsets the impact of local species losses and confers community-level resistance to primary forest disturbance.

Concerted political attention has focused on reducing deforestation1,2,3, and this remains the cornerstone of most biodiversity conservation strategies4,5,6. However, maintaining forest cover may not reduce anthropogenic forest disturbances, which are rarely considered in conservation programmes6. These disturbances occur both within forests, including selective logging and wildfires7,8, and at the landscape level, through edge, area and isolation effects9. Until now, the combined effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the conservation value of remnant primary forests has remained unknown, making it impossible to assess the relative importance of forest disturbance and forest loss. Here we address these knowledge gaps using a large data set of plants, birds and dung beetles (1,538, 460 and 156 species, respectively) sampled in 36 catchments in the Brazilian state of Pará. Catchments retaining more than 69–80% forest cover lost more conservation value from disturbance than from forest loss. For example, a 20% loss of primary forest, the maximum level of deforestation allowed on Amazonian properties under Brazil’s Forest Code5, resulted in a 39–54% loss of conservation value: 96–171% more than expected without considering disturbance effects. We extrapolated the disturbance-mediated loss of conservation value throughout Pará, which covers 25% of the Brazilian Amazon. Although disturbed forests retained considerable conservation value compared with deforested areas, the toll of disturbance outside Pará’s strictly protected areas is equivalent to the loss of 92,000–139,000 km2 of primary forest. Even this lowest estimate is greater than the area deforested across the entire Brazilian Amazon between 2006 and 2015 (ref. 10). Species distribution models showed that both landscape and within-forest disturbances contributed to biodiversity loss, with the greatest negative effects on species of high conservation and functional value. These results demonstrate an urgent need f

This is the first study to address the dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) diversity in intra-Amazonian savannahs in the state of Roraima, Brazil. Our aim was to survey the dung beetle fauna associated with these savannahs (regionally called 'lavrado'), since little is known about the dung beetles from this environment. We conducted three field samples using pitfall traps baited with human dung in savannah areas near the city of Boa Vista during the rainy seasons of 1996, 1997, and 2008. We collected 383 individuals from ten species, wherein six have no previous record in intra-Amazonian savannahs. The most abundant species were Ontherus appendiculatus (Mannerheim, 1829), Canthidium aff. humerale (Germar, 1813), Dichotomius nisus (Olivier, 1789), and Pseudocanthon aff. xanthurus (Blanchard, 1846). We believe that knowing the dung beetles diversity associated with the intra-Amazonian savannahs is ideal for understanding the occurrence and distribution of these organisms in a highly threatened environment, it thus being the first step towards conservation strategy development.

The Brazilian Amazon is under threat from more frequent and intense forest fires, with a few studies showing negative consequences for forest integrity and the biodiversity. However, the impacts of this disturbance on tropical forests remain mostly unknown. We investigate the impacts of forest fires on community parameters and biomass of dung beetles, a cost-effective indicator of disturbance and overall biodiversity, in the northern Brazilian Amazon. Our results indicate that burned forests harbor a modified dung beetle community, with altered abundance, community composition, and structure. Burned forest samples had lower total biomass and were dominated by small-bodied dung beetles. Large-bodied tunneler species were negatively impacted, responding to changes in environmental characteristics such as soil compaction. Lower biomass and higher predominance of smaller species in burned forest is likely to impact dung beetle-mediated ecological functions, such as nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. Our results support that forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon pose a serious threat to local biodiversity and habitat integrity.

Biodiversity is vital for fully functional natural habitats, and the maintenance of biodiversity through effective conservation planning depends on reliable information on its spatial distribution and response to anthropogenic disturbance. However, gathering extensive data on multiple species is a difficult task, due to logistical and financial constraints and the lack of taxonomic expertise. A common resource to address this hurdle is the use of surrogate taxa: focusing on a limited set of species that provide information that can be extrapolated to wider patterns of biodiversity and ecological integrity. We examine this by (1) testing if species richness proportions among different taxa/methodology employed (ants, birds sampled with point counts, birds sampled with mist nets, dung beetles, trees and saplings) will be similar across different undisturbed Amazonian forests, and (2) if patterns of local congruence in richness and community composition are consistent in undisturbed forest and gradients of forest disturbed by forest fires. Our results indicate that species richness, across field sites, was positively associated at a regional scale. At a local scale, richness and community composition in unburned forest showed virtually no correlation between the taxa, but the inclusion of samples from burned forest increased the number of significant correlations. Vegetation (trees >= 10 cm diameter at breast height) composition was the best indicator of overall community composition of all other taxa. The congruence of regional patterns of richness is likely a consequence of macro variables such as climate and biogeographical history, and should not be extrapolated to local scales. Although the use of community composition metrics increased congruence at a local scale, we highlight the importance of using a broad ecological gradient. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Brazilian Amazon is under threat from more frequent and intense forest fires, with a few studies showing negative consequences for forest integrity and the biodiversity. However, the impacts of this disturbance on tropical forests remain mostly unknown. We investigate the impacts of forest fires on community parameters and biomass of dung beetles, a cost-effective indicator of disturbance and overall biodiversity, in the northern Brazilian Amazon. Our results indicate that burned forests harbor a modified dung beetle community, with altered abundance, community composition, and structure. Burned forest samples had lower total biomass and were dominated by small-bodied dung beetles. Large-bodied tunneler species were negatively impacted, responding to changes in environmental characteristics such as soil compaction. Lower biomass and higher predominance of smaller species in burned forest is likely to impact dung beetle-mediated ecological functions, such as nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. Our results support that forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon pose a serious threat to local biodiversity and habitat integrity.

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazonia Sustentavel, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far.

Understanding how biodiversity responds to environmental changes is essential to provide the evidence-base that underpins conservation initiatives. The present study provides a standardized comparison between unbaited flight intercept traps (FIT) and baited pitfall traps (BPT) for sampling dung beetles. We examine the effectiveness of the two to assess fire disturbance effects and how trap performance is affected by seasonality. The study was carried out in a transitional forest between Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) and Amazon Forest. Dung beetles were collected during one wet and one dry sampling season. The two methods sampled different portions of the local beetle assemblage. Both FIT and BPT were sensitive to fire disturbance during the wet season, but only BPT detected community differences during the dry season. Both traps showed similar correlation with environmental factors. Our results indicate that seasonality had a stronger effect than trap type, with BPT more effective and robust under low population numbers, and FIT more sensitive to fine scale heterogeneity patterns. This study shows the strengths and weaknesses of two commonly used methodologies for sampling dung beetles in tropical forests, as well as highlighting the importance of seasonality in shaping the results obtained by both sampling strategies.

Understanding how biodiversity responds to environmental changes is essential to provide the evidence-base that underpins conservation initiatives. The present study provides a standardized comparison between unbaited flight intercept traps (FIT) and baited pitfall traps (BPT) for sampling dung beetles. We examine the effectiveness of the two to assess fire disturbance effects and how trap performance is affected by seasonality. The study was carried out in a transitional forest between Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) and Amazon Forest. Dung beetles were collected during one wet and one dry sampling season. The two methods sampled different portions of the local beetle assemblage. Both FIT and BPT were sensitive to fire disturbance during the wet season, but only BPT detected community differences during the dry season. Both traps showed similar correlation with environmental factors. Our results indicate that seasonality had a stronger effect than trap type, with BPT more effective and robust under low population numbers, and FIT more sensitive to fine scale heterogeneity patterns. This study shows the strengths and weaknesses of two commonly used methodologies for sampling dung beetles in tropical forests, as well as highlighting the importance of seasonality in shaping the results obtained by both sampling strategies.