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Special Issue "Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles"

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A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity Loss & Dynamics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2023 | Viewed by 5407

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luca Luiselli

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Guest Editor

Institute for Development Ecology Conservation and Cooperation, Via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa 33 I, 00144 Rome, Italy
Interests: community ecology; reptile biology and conservation; tropical reptile ecology; chelonian conservation; reptile population biology; reptile dietary habits and foraging ecology
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Dr. Giovanni Amori

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Guest Editor

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto di Ricerca Sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: phylogeography; ecology; areography; systematics; taxonomy; evolution; conservation of mammals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tropical regions host a large variety of animal species, representing the “hotspot” of biological diversity across the Earth. On the other hand, insects represent the great majority of animal species throughout the world, and Coleoptera (= beetles) constitute the largest order of living insects (about 350,000 species overall, spread in 235 families). Therefore, the “interaction” between “tropics” and “beetles” certainly represents one of the most extraordinarily models for analyzing life, ecology, and conservation. Nonetheless, beetles are strongly overlooked by the IUCN Red List and other major conservation organizations, and their tropical species have been so far mostly neglected also by community ecology and macroecology studies.

In this Special Volume, we emphasize studies on community ecology and macroecology of tropical beetles, without prejudice for any beetle family, biome or geographic region within the tropics and subtropics. We will also emphasize the conservation issues that mean that many groups/species may currently suffer from a plethora of local and general threats (from deforestation to overcollecting, from pollution to climate change). Thus, we are happy to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue with the latest and most updated research from both you and your colleagues.

Prof. Dr. Luca Luiselli
Dr. Giovanni Amori
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

coleoptera
ecology
conservation
patterns at different spatial scales

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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Open AccessEditorial

Community Ecology, Macro-Ecological Patterns, and Conservation of Tropical Beetles: An Introduction

Luca Luiselli

and

Giovanni Amori

Diversity 2021, 13(9), 406; https://doi.org/10.3390/d13090406 - 26 Aug 2021

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Abstract

Tropical regions host a large variety of animal species, representing the richest concentrations of biological diversity across the Earth [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Replicate Studies Separated by 40 Years Reveal Changes in the Altitudinal Stratification of Montane Passalid Beetle Species (Passalidae) in Mesoamerica

Cristian Fernando Beza-Beza

and

Diversity 2023, 15(3), 315; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030315 - 21 Feb 2023

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Abstract

Two patterns are apparent in the altitudinal distribution of Neotropical passalid beetles: (a) species that occur only in lowland forest habitats but have broad geographic distributions, and (b) montane endemic species with relatively limited distributions. The transition zone between these distributions in upper Mesoamerica occurs, on average, at approximately 1500 m above sea level (a.s.l.). We studied the altitudinal stratification of passalid beetle communities living on two volcanoes in Guatemala (Atitlan and Santa Maria), revisiting a study conducted in 1981 by MacVean and Schuster. We collected passalid beetles at the same study sites and compared the community composition along the altitudinal gradient. We collected all but one of the species reported by MacVean and Schuster and found three additional species. We observed two key differences in the passalid communities observed in 1981 versus the present: (a) for the Atitlan site, the species’ turnover line from lowland to montane species shifted from 1600 to 1800 m a.s.l.; and (b) in both volcanoes, we collected passalid beetles well above 2700 m a.s.l., which was the upper limit at which they were found in 1981. Both observations are consistent with a shift of the passalid beetle community to higher elevations, perhaps in response to changes in local climate/habitat conditions, including increased temperatures and changes in forest composition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles)

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Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Tropical Elevations and Associated Habitat Changes on Firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) Diversity in Malaysia

and

Diversity 2023, 15(1), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15010079 - 06 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Studies of the effects of elevation and associated habitat changes on biodiversity have a rich history in conservation biology and have seen a resurgence of interest in recent decades. Mountainous regions are particularly important because they harbour endemic species and are relatively spared from anthropogenic effects. The rather drastic temperature decrease as elevation increases in tropical regions has generated more research on the effects of elevation, especially since global warming could negatively impact the biodiversity of tropical forest mountainous species. Fireflies, especially the solitary species, represent a challenge to work with because though they are biologically diverse, they typically occur at low densities and have rarely been studied across elevations. Many are habitat specialists and have limited dispersal abilities. Firefly diversity changes on five mountains located on the main mountain range of Peninsular Malaysia, which is highly representative of five major elevational forest types, were assessed. Fireflies were restricted to a certain elevational range of mountains, and the turnover of species was significant among forest types across elevations. The forest type and canopy closure were the main characteristics affecting species diversity, although other habitat characteristics may be significant. The ability to reveal any possible associations was limited, as strong statistical associations were not possible due to their low abundance and difficulty in detecting their presence. The firefly species occurrence across elevations is restricted, and habitat loss could pose a risk to lower-elevation species, while global warming could be a threat to high-elevation species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles)

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Open AccessArticle

Human Disturbance Affects Dung Beetle Assemblages in French Guiana Forests

and

Diversity 2022, 14(12), 1059; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14121059 - 02 Dec 2022

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Abstract

French Guiana forests are threatened by increasing human activity such as infrastructure development, facilitating access to the forest and, therefore, logging, mining, farming and hunting. To highlight the impact of human pressure on the forest fauna, dung beetle assemblage was analyzed near Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock and compared with other sites in French Guiana, considering the distance to the main city and forest cover loss as proxies of human activities. Hill numbers and beta diversity were calculated. Non-metric multidimensional scaling and redundancy analyses were carried out to disentangle the effect of the distance to the nearest city and forest cover loss as proxies of human pressure, but also temperature and rainfall as proxies of climatic variations on dung beetle assemblage. Species richness increased significantly with the distance to the nearest city and decreasing forest cover loss. Assemblage structure varied among sites mainly with distance to the nearest city but also with rainfall. It varied also with forest cover loss, but not significantly. This study showed that human disturbances and climatic conditions, even if represented by proxies, affected dung beetle assemblage structures in French Guiana forests. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles)

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Open AccessCommunication

Decline of the Commercially Attractive White Morph in Goliath Beetle Polymorphic Populations

and

Diversity 2021, 13(8), 388; https://doi.org/10.3390/d13080388 - 18 Aug 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1729

Abstract

The Goliath beetle (Goliathus goliatus) is one of the largest and most commercially valuable (for collection exports) beetle species worldwide, and occurs in West and Central Africa, with polymorphic populations being found in Benin, Eastern Nigeria, and Western Cameroun. The white morph is the most commercially valuable, and therefore is actively searched for by hunters and dealers. In a long-term, opportunistically conducted study in south-eastern Nigeria, we documented a substantial decline of the white morph compared to the normally coloured brown morph, although an overall decline in the number of observed beetles was evident for both colour morphs. Although a combination of reasons may have caused the white form decline, it is likely that overcollecting was the primary threat behind the observed pattern. Therefore, we urge the competent authorities to better protect the polymorphic populations of these giant beetles and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to make a quick assessment for eventual inclusion of the species among the threatened taxa Red List. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Ecology, Macroecological Patterns and Conservation of Tropical Beetles)

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