Tropical dung beetle morphological traits predict functional traits and show intra-specific differences across land uses

1. Functional traits and functional diversity measures are increasingly being used to examine land use effects on biodiversity and community assembly rules. 2. Morphological traits are frequently derived from a mean value of many individuals, and used directly as functional traits. However, this approach overlooks the importance of intraspecific differences. 3. We collected morphometric data from over 1700 individuals of 12 species of dung beetle to establish whether morphological measurements can be used as predictors of behavioral traits. We also compared morphology among individuals collected from different land uses to identify if intra-specific differences in morphology vary among land use types. 4. We show that leg and eye measurements can be used to predict dung beetle nesting behavior and period of activity, and used this information to confirm the previously unresolved nesting behavior for Synapsis ritsemae. 5. We found intra-specific differences in morphological traits across ...1. 功能性状（functional traits）与功能多样性（functional diversity）指标正日益被应用于探讨土地利用对生物多样性的影响以及群落构建规则。 2. 形态性状通常取多个个体的平均值直接作为功能性状使用，但该研究思路忽略了种内差异的重要性。 3. 本研究采集了12种蜣螂共1700余只个体的形态测量数据，旨在验证形态学指标能否作为行为性状的预测因子；同时对比了不同土地利用类型下采集的个体的形态特征，以明确种内形态差异是否随土地利用类型的不同而发生变化。 4. 研究结果表明，腿部与眼部的形态测量数据可用于预测蜣螂的筑巢行为与活动节律，并借此明确了此前尚未厘清的Synapsis ritsemae的筑巢行为。 5. 本研究发现，形态性状的种内差异在……（原文未完整提供后续内容）