Effects of grazing intensity and the use of veterinary medical products on dung beetle biodiversity in the sub-mountainous landscape of Central Italy
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Biodiversity, Ecology, Entomology, Environmental Sciences
- Keywords
- traditional grazing, organic farming, Livestock management, ivermectin, Scarabaeidae
- Copyright
- © 2016 Tonelli et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2016. Effects of grazing intensity and the use of veterinary medical products on dung beetle biodiversity in the sub-mountainous landscape of Central Italy. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2358v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2358v1
Abstract
Grazing extensification and intensification are among the main problems affecting European grasslands. We analyze the impact of grazing intensity (low and moderate) and the use of veterinary medical products (VMPs) on the dung beetle community in the province of Pesaro-Urbino (Italy). Grazing intensity is a key factor in explaining the diversity of dung beetles. In the case of the alpha diversity component, sites with a low level of grazing activity – related in a previous step to the subsequent abandonment of traditional farming – is characterized by a loss of species richness (q = 0) and a reduction in alpha diversity at the levels q = 1 and q = 2. In the case of beta diversity, sites with a different grazing intensity show remarkable differences in terms of the composition of their species assemblages. The use of VMPs is another important factor in explaining changes in dung beetle diversity. In sites with a traditional use of VMPs, a significant loss of species richness and biomass is observed, as is a notable effect on beta diversity. In addition, the absence of indicator species in sites with a historical use of VMPs corroborates the hypothesis that these substances have a ubiquitous effect on dung beetles. However, the interaction between grazing activity and VMPs when it comes to explaining changes in dung beetle diversity is less significant (or is not significant) than the main effects (each factor separately) for alpha diversity, biomass and species composition. This may be explained if we consider that both factors affect the various species differently. In other words, the reduction in dung availability affects several larger species more than it does very small species, although this does not imply that the former are more susceptible to injury caused by the ingestion of dung contaminated with VMPs. Finally, in order to prevent negative consequences for dung beetle diversity, we propose the maintenance of a moderate grazing intensity and the rational use of VMPs. It is our view that organic management can prevent excessive extensification while providing an economic stimulus to the sector. Simultaneously, it can also prevent the abuse of VMPs.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.
Supplemental Information
Raw data of dung beetles collected in the study
Number of individuals of dung beetle species collected from each treatment of the two factors. For each treatment, inventory completeness was also reported according to the INext estimators. LG: low grazing; MG: moderate grazing; ECO: VMP-free; VMP: with the use of VMPs.