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deCastro-Arrazola I, Andrew NR, Berg MP, Curtsdotter A, Lumaret JP, Menéndez R, Moretti M, Nervo B, Nichols ES, Sánchez-Piñero F, Santos AMC, Sheldon KS, Slade EM, Hortal J. A trait-based framework for dung beetle functional ecology. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:44-65. [PMID: 36443916 PMCID: PMC10099951 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Traits are key for understanding the environmental responses and ecological roles of organisms. Trait approaches to functional ecology are well established for plants, whereas consistent frameworks for animal groups are less developed. Here we suggest a framework for the study of the functional ecology of animals from a trait-based response-effect approach, using dung beetles as model system. Dung beetles are a key group of decomposers that are important for many ecosystem processes. The lack of a trait-based framework tailored to this group has limited the use of traits in dung beetle functional ecology. We review which dung beetle traits respond to the environment and affect ecosystem processes, covering the wide range of spatial, temporal and biological scales at which they are involved. Dung beetles show trait-based responses to variation in temperature, water, soil properties, trophic resources, light, vegetation structure, competition, predation and parasitism. Dung beetles' influence on ecosystem processes includes trait-mediated effects on nutrient cycling, bioturbation, plant growth, seed dispersal, other dung-based organisms and parasite transmission, as well as some cases of pollination and predation. We identify 66 dung beetle traits that are either response or effect traits, or both, pertaining to six main categories: morphology, feeding, reproduction, physiology, activity and movement. Several traits pertain to more than one category, in particular dung relocation behaviour during nesting or feeding. We also identify 136 trait-response and 77 trait-effect relationships in dung beetles. No response to environmental stressors nor effect over ecological processes were related with traits of a single category. This highlights the interrelationship between the traits shaping body-plans, the multi-functionality of traits, and their role linking responses to the environment and effects on the ecosystem. Despite current developments in dung beetle functional ecology, many knowledge gaps remain, and there are biases towards certain traits, functions, taxonomic groups and regions. Our framework provides the foundations for the thorough development of trait-based dung beetle ecology. It also serves as an example framework for other taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indradatta deCastro-Arrazola
- Germans Cabot Franciscans 48, Bunyola, Spain.,Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Nigel R Andrew
- Insect Ecology Lab, Natural History Museum, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Matty P Berg
- Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Alva Curtsdotter
- Insect Ecology Lab, Natural History Museum, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Rosa Menéndez
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Marco Moretti
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Beatrice Nervo
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | | | | | - Ana M C Santos
- Terrestrial Ecology Group (TEG-UAM), Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Kimberly S Sheldon
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Eleanor M Slade
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Joaquín Hortal
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil.,cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Verdú JR, Cortez V, Ortiz AJ, Lumaret JP, Lobo JM, Sánchez-Piñero F. Biomagnification and body distribution of ivermectin in dung beetles. Sci Rep 2020; 10:9073. [PMID: 32493927 PMCID: PMC7270108 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66063-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A terrestrial test system to investigate the biomagnification potential and tissue-specific distribution of ivermectin, a widely used parasiticide, in the non-target dung beetle Thorectes lusitanicus (Jekel) was developed and validated. Biomagnification kinetics of ivermectin in T. lusitanicus was investigated by following uptake, elimination, and distribution of the compound in dung beetles feeding on contaminated faeces. Results showed that ivermectin was biomagnified in adults of T. lusitanicus when exposed to non-lethal doses via food uptake. Ivermectin was quickly transferred from the gut to the haemolymph, generating a biomagnification factor (BMFk) three times higher in the haemolymph than in the gut after an uptake period of 12 days. The fat body appeared to exert a major role on the biomagnification of ivermectin in the insect body, showing a BMFk 1.6 times higher than in the haemolymph. The results of this study highlight that the biomagnification of ivermectin should be investigated from a global dung-based food web perspective and that the use of these antiparasitic substances should be monitored and controlled on a precautionary basis. Thus, we suggest that an additional effort be made in the development of standardised regulatory recommendations to guide biomagnification studies in terrestrial organisms, but also that it is necessary to adapt existing methods to assess the effects of such veterinary medical products.
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Affiliation(s)
- José R Verdú
- I.U.I. CIBIO, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, E-03690, Spain.
| | - Vieyle Cortez
- I.U.I. CIBIO, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, E-03690, Spain
| | - Antonio J Ortiz
- Departamento de Química Inorgánica y Química Orgánica, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, Jaén, E-23071, Spain
| | - Jean-Pierre Lumaret
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Univ. Montpellier, EPHE, CNRS, IRD, CEFE UMR 5175, F34000. Université Paul-Valéry Laboratoire Zoogéographie, route de Mende, 34199, Montpellier, cedex 5, France
| | - Jorge M Lobo
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global. José Abascal 2, Madrid, E-28006, Spain
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Gherlenda AN, Haigh AM, Moore BD, Johnson SN, Riegler M. Climate change, nutrition and immunity: Effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on the immune function of an insect herbivore. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2016; 85:57-64. [PMID: 26678330 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Revised: 11/27/2015] [Accepted: 12/07/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Balanced nutrition is fundamental to health and immunity. For herbivorous insects, nutrient-compositional shifts in host plants due to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations and temperature may compromise this balance. Therefore, understanding their immune responses to such shifts is vital if we are to predict the outcomes of climate change for plant-herbivore-parasitoid and pathogen interactions. We tested the immune response of Paropsis atomaria Olivier (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) feeding on Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. seedlings exposed to elevated CO2 (640 μmol mol(-1); CE) and temperature (ambient plus 4 °C; TE). Larvae were immune-challenged with a nylon monofilament in order to simulate parasitoid or pathogen attack without other effects of actual parasitism or pathology. The cellular (in vivo melanisation) and humoral (in vitro phenoloxidase PO activity) immune responses were assessed, and linked to changes in leaf chemistry. CE reduced foliar nitrogen (N) concentrations and increased C:N ratios and concentrations of total phenolics. The humoral response was reduced at CE. PO activity and haemolymph protein concentrations decreased at CE, while haemolymph protein concentrations were positively correlated with foliar N concentrations. However, the cellular response increased at CE and this was not correlated with any foliar traits. Immune parameters were not impacted by TE. Our study revealed that opposite cellular and humoral immune responses occurred as a result of plant-mediated effects at CE. In contrast, elevated temperatures within the tested range had minimal impact on immune responses. These complex interactions may alter the outcomes of parasitoid and pathogen attack in future climates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew N Gherlenda
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Anthony M Haigh
- School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - Ben D Moore
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - Scott N Johnson
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - Markus Riegler
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
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Humoral and haemocytic responses of Litopenaeus vannamei to Cd exposure. ScientificWorldJournal 2014; 2014:903452. [PMID: 24967441 PMCID: PMC4055250 DOI: 10.1155/2014/903452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2014] [Accepted: 05/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
White shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, subadults were exposed to four dilutions of the 96 h cadmium LC50 reported for postlarvae (PL12) of this species, and the effects were evaluated after 5, 48, and 96 h of exposure. While treatments did not affect survival and hemolymph clotting time increased with time, but not as a response to Cd exposure, the intensity of other responses was related to concentration, to time of exposure, and to their interaction. Hemocyanin decreased with time in all metal concentrations but increased in the control treatment, and an almost similar trend was observed with hemocyte numbers. As an initial response, phenoloxidase activity decreased with all metal concentrations, but it increased later to values similar or higher than the control treatment.
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Pérez-Ramos IM, Verdú JR, Numa C, Marañón T, Lobo JM. The comparative effectiveness of rodents and dung beetles as local seed dispersers in Mediterranean oak forests. PLoS One 2013; 8:e77197. [PMID: 24194872 PMCID: PMC3806725 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2012] [Accepted: 09/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The process of seed dispersal of many animal-dispersed plants is frequently mediated by a small set of biotic agents. However, the contribution that each of these dispersers makes to the overall recruitment may differ largely, with important ecological and management implications for the population viability and dynamics of the species implied in these interactions. In this paper, we compared the relative contribution of two local guilds of scatter-hoarding animals with contrasting metabolic requirements and foraging behaviours (rodents and dung beetles) to the overall recruitment of two Quercus species co-occurring in the forests of southern Spain. For this purpose, we considered not only the quantity of dispersed seeds but also the quality of the seed dispersal process. The suitability for recruitment of the microhabitats where the seeds were deposited was evaluated in a multi-stage demographic approach. The highest rates of seed handling and predation occurred in those microhabitats located under shrubs, mostly due to the foraging activity of rodents. However, the probability of a seed being successfully cached was higher in microhabitats located beneath a tree canopy as a result of the feeding behaviour of beetles. Rodents and beetles showed remarkable differences in their effectiveness as local acorn dispersers. Quantitatively, rodents were much more important than beetles because they dispersed the vast majority of acorns. However, they were qualitatively less effective because they consumed a high proportion of them (over 95%), and seeds were mostly dispersed under shrubs, a less suitable microhabitat for short-term recruitment of the two oak species. Our findings demonstrate that certain species of dung beetles (such as Thorectes lusitanicus), despite being quantitatively less important than rodents, can act as effective local seed dispersers of Mediterranean oak species. Changes in the abundance of beetle populations could thus have profound implications for oak recruitment and community dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio M. Pérez-Ramos
- Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - José R. Verdú
- I.U.I Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain
| | - Catherine Numa
- I.U.I Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain
| | - Teodoro Marañón
- Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| | - Jorge M. Lobo
- Dep. Biogeografía y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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