Effects of soil physical properties on dung beetle assemblages in pasture landscapes of the Brazilian Cerrado

Soil factors have important implications for the establishment of species that dwell on and underneath them. Dung beetles’ biological cycle is highly dependent on soil, and their nesting and feeding activities positively affect soil chemical and physical properties. We assessed the effect of the type of soil texture (loamy sand and sandy loam) and its physical properties (the amount of sand, silt, and clay), compaction, and soil moisture on dung beetle species assemblages (species richness, abundance, functional groups, and species composition) in a pastureland region of Brazilian Cerrado. We developed one dataset containing the physical soil properties (clay, silt, and sand content, soil texture classification, soil compaction, and soil moisture) and assemblage metrics of dung beetles (total richness and abundance, and abundance and richness of paracoprids, telecoprids, and endocoprids) sampled in 15 transects in introduced pastures in Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. We re..., We carried out this study in four pastureland sites that were separated by > 1 km among each one. In each pastureland site, four linear transects of 100 m were regularly distributed 100 m apart from one each other (except on one site, which had 3 transects, because the traps were removed by animals).
In each transect (i.e., replicate), we collected soil samples (~ 0.5 kg; 0–20 cm) at the three sampling points (e.g., sub-samples). The sub-samples were thoroughly mixed to obtain a representative sample to measure texture (sand, clay, and silt content), and soil moisture, and analysis of this sample provided average values for each transect. When merging the three subsets of the transects in one sample, we presented a replicate that joins the characteristics and variations observed in this space, which are independent from the nearest one. Soil compaction data were obtained using the impact penetrometer.
The texture of the soils was classified in loamy sand and sandy loam soils accordin..., # Data from: Effects of soil physical properties on dung beetle assemblages in pasture landscapes of the Brazilian Cerrado

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwbt](10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bwbt)

## Description of the data and file structure

We assessed the effect of the type of soil texture (loamy sand and sandy loam) and its physical properties (the amount of sand, silt, and clay), compaction, and soil moisture on dung beetle species assemblages (species richness, abundance, functional groups, and species composition) in a pastureland region of Brazilian Cerrado. For this, we collected soil and dung beetles and measured soil physical properties in 15 transects within 4 pasture sites in the Brazilian Cerrado

### Files and variables

#### File: Data_Soil_and_Dung_beetles.xlsx

**Description:** Soil and dung beetles in the Brazilian Cerrado

##### Variables

**Assemblage variables**

* **Richness_total:** number of species in the assemblage
* **Abundance_total**: total number of individuals ...,