Seasonality of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in Atlantic Forest sites with different levels of disturbance in southern Brazil

ABSTRACT Dung beetle species were collected between May 2016 and July 2017 with pitfall traps baited with human feces in four Atlantic Forest sites with different levels of disturbance in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. We sampled 5,535 individuals belonging to 46 species. Canthidium aff. trinodosum (20.71%), Eurysternus parallelus Castelnau, 1840 (14.82%), Onthophagus catharinensis Paulian, 1936 (12.09%), Scybalocanthon nigriceps (Harold, 1868) (7.61 %), Eurysternus caribaeus (Herbst, 1789) (7.49%), and Canthon rutilans cyanescens Harold, 1868 (7.22%) were the most abundant species, which represented 70% of the individuals sampled. Moreno Fortes Biological Reserve had the higher richness and Morro do Cerrito the higher abundance, while Val Feltrina presented the lowest values. The greatest similarity occurred between Turvo State Park and Moreno Fortes Biological Reserve, while Moreno Fortes Biological Reserve and Val Feltrina had the lowest similarity. Only 11 species (23.9%) occurred in all sites, while 14 species were restricted to only one of the fragments. Both abundance and richness of dung beetles were positively correlated with site temperature but not with precipitation.