Seeds go up and down: The role of dung beetles in soil seed movement in the Southern Atlantic Forest of Argentina

The vertical movement of seeds performed by dung beetles from the soil bank and in animal feces influences seed germination and the temporal dynamic of forest regeneration. While this process has been explored at the community level, the individual role of species is less understood. Here, we investigated the role of dung beetle size and seed size in this vertical movement under experimental conditions.
We performed experiments using a gradient of dung beetle sizes and three sizes of artificial seeds (plastic beads) in two situations: inside feces (secondary dispersal) and buried in the ground (soil bank). Through regression analysis, we related dung beetle size, seed size, and the initial position of seeds on the soil bank to the final position of seeds and their potential germination.
For seeds in the soil bank, upward movement and exhumation were mainly of medium and large seeds, initially located at shallower depths, with larger beetles being primarily responsible for this movement...., Study area and collection of dung beetles
We conducted this study with dung beetle species native to the Southern Atlantic Forest of Argentina (25° 44’ S and 54° 30’ W). The region is characterized by a warm seasonal climate, with annual temperatures between 17 and 22°C and a mean annual precipitation of 2000 mm, with no dry season (Oliveira & Fontes, 2000). We worked with eight copro-necrophagous beetle species representing the weight and size gradient for the whole assemblage (ranging from 0.007 g to 1.7 g.) (Table 1) (Giménez Gómez et al., 2022).
We capture live dung beetles in late spring of 2015 (December) using ten pitfall traps in two habitat types: native forests in protected areas and nearby mature pine plantations. Traps were a plastic cup of 12 cm in diameter and depth. We baited five traps with human dung and five with decomposing chicken because they are the most efficient resource for capturing dung beetles (Gardner et al., 2008). We separated the traps by 50 m between..., , # Seeds go up and down: The role of dung beetles in soil seed movement in the Southern Atlantic Forest of Argentina

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wh70rxwxb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wh70rxwxb)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: Data.xlsx

**Description:** On the first sheet, the file contains the species of dung beetle used in each replicate, the initial location of the plastic beads, their size (small: 2 millimeters (mm), medium: 6 mm and large: 8 mm) and the final depth (centimeters). On the second sheet, the file contains the metadata. 

##### Variables

* Number of counted plastic beads

## Code/software

You need excel or similar software.

蜣螂 (dung beetle) 介导的、源自土壤种子库 (soil seed bank) 与动物粪便中的种子垂直移动过程，会影响种子萌发与森林更新的时间动态。当前该过程已在群落尺度得到探究，但单一物种的具体作用仍不甚明晰。本研究在实验条件下，探究了蜣螂体型与种子体型在该垂直移动过程中的作用。

我们设置了蜣螂体型梯度与三种规格的人工种子（塑料微珠 (plastic beads)），分别在粪便环境（次生扩散 (secondary dispersal)）与土壤埋藏环境（土壤种子库）中开展实验。通过回归分析，我们将蜣螂体型、种子体型、种子在土壤种子库中的初始位置，与种子最终位置及潜在萌发率进行关联分析。

对于土壤种子库中的种子而言，向上移动与出土过程主要发生在初始埋藏深度较浅的中、大型种子中，且该过程主要由体型较大的蜣螂介导……
## 研究区域与蜣螂采集
本研究的实验材料为阿根廷南大西洋森林 (Southern Atlantic Forest) 原生的蜣螂物种，采样位点为南纬25°44′、西经54°30′。该区域属于暖季型气候，年气温介于17~22℃之间，年平均降水量达2000 mm，无明显旱季（Oliveira & Fontes, 2000）。本研究选取了8种食粪食腐甲虫 (copro-necrophagous beetle)，覆盖了整个类群的体重与体型梯度（体重范围0.007 g~1.7 g），详见表1（Giménez Gómez et al., 2022）。

我们于2015年晚春（12月）通过陷阱诱捕器 (pitfall trap) 采集活蜣螂，共设置10个陷阱，分布于两种生境类型：保护区内的原生林与附近的成熟人工松林。陷阱为直径与深度均为12 cm的塑料杯。其中5个陷阱以人粪为诱饵，剩余5个以腐鸡为诱饵——这两种诱饵是采集蜣螂的高效饵料（Gardner et al., 2008）。陷阱间距设置为50 m……

# 种子的上下移动：阿根廷南大西洋森林中蜣螂在土壤种子移动过程中的作用
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wh70rxwxb

## 数据与文件结构说明
### 文件与变量
#### 文件：Data.xlsx
**描述：** 该文件的第一个工作表包含各重复实验所用的蜣螂物种、塑料微珠的初始位置、种子规格（小型：2毫米（mm），中型：6 mm，大型：8 mm）以及种子最终埋藏深度（单位：厘米）。第二个工作表包含元数据。
##### 变量
* 计数的塑料微珠数量

## 代码与软件
需使用Excel或同类软件打开本数据集。