Бидний тухай
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In this study, we studied the body size variation of G. mopsus distributed in different biotopes of Mongolia. This study aimed to evaluate variation in morphometric linear traits of this beetle species and compare populations from the desert, desert-steppe, steppe, and forest-steppe ecosystems. In total, 523 adult beetles were collected from 9 localities in six provinces, between 2015 and 2023. Beetle numbers ranged from 30 to 110 adult beetles from each site. We measured 11 morphometric linear traits and dry weight of beetles. The measurements were as follows: body maximum length, head length, head width, distance between eyes, pronotum length, pronotum width, elytra length, elytra width, and dry weight. As a result, there were no significant differences in the linear traits between the beetles from the desert and the desert-steppe, as well as from the steppe and the forest-steppe, except distance between the eyes. However, there were significant differences in the average body sizes of beetles from each ecosystem. Also, we recorded the dry weight of beetles differ significantly between the desert, desert-steppe, and forest-steppes, but the other ecosystems showed no significant differences.
During their feeding process, dung beetles perform a series of ecosystem functions that provide valuable ecosystem services, such as soil fertilization, improvement of soil properties, plant growth enhancement, and biological pest control. However, in the grasslands of the Central Asian dry steppe, the effects of dung beetles on dung removal remain almost unstudied. Here, we examined dung removal by different dung beetle species (Colobterus erraticus (Linnaeus, 1758), Onthophagus bivertex Heyden, 1887, Onthophagus gibbulus (Pallas, 1781), Gymnopleurus mopsus (Pallas, 1781), Cheironitis eumenes Motschulsky, 1859, and Geotrupes koltzei Reitter, 1892), and compared the impacts with control treatments (without beetles) under natural pasture conditions and in the laboratory. We examined the influence of different variables on dung removal rates, such as dung type and dung beetle traits (nesting strategies, abundance, body size, and biomass). We found higher dung removal rates during the initial 48 h in field and laboratory conditions. Among nesting strategies, tunnellers demonstrated significantly higher dung removal rates than dweller and roller species. The highest amount of dung removal was estimated for C. eumenes (6.5 g/day by seven individuals). We found no significant relationship between dung removal rates and dung beetle body size or biomass, but we observed a strong negative correlation between dung beetle abundance and dung removal rates. Our findings highlight the importance of dung type and age, nesting strategies and abundances of dung beetles, and experimental conditions, which are the main factors driving the process of dung removal.
Grassland insects face some of the most severe declines in species diversity and total abundance, in part due to agriculture. Livestock grazing is the largest agricultural land use in Mongolia that can have both positive and negative effects on insect communities. Here, we provide an assessment of rare and charismatic insects that can serve as a baseline for monitoring future population changes of selected species in the nature reserve. A total of 20 species were chosen including three species of dragonflies/damselflies (Odonata), two species of grasshoppers (Orthoptera), one species of true bug (Hemiptera), one species of lacewing (Neuroptera), nine species of beetles (Coleoptera), one species of ant (Hymenoptera), and three species of butterflies (Lepidoptera), and we discussed the future conservation issues in this nature reserve, where protection of existing habitat should be the primary goal for insect conservation.
This is the first comprehensive study based on a planned and intensive sampling eff ort that describes the community composition of insects in Khar Yamaat Nature Reserve, Mongolia. As part of ongoing research project in the reserve, we recorded 341 insect species representing 9 orders and 70 families. Coleoptera represented the most speciose order (171 spp.) followed by Lepidoptera (44 spp.) and Orthoptera (33 spp.), whereas Odonata (4 spp.) and Neuroptera (5 spp.) were the least specious. At the family level, the ground beetles (Carabidae, 43 spp.), leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae, 30 spp.), grasshoppers (Acrididae, 25 spp.), and weevil beetles (Curculionidae, 22 spp.) were the most species rich among other families. We selected six ground-dwelling beetle groups for the study of their post-fi re succession, and their activity densities among different years after the wildfire were not significantly different. The trophic guilds of selected beetles did not differ much among the years after the wildfire, and across the years, predators were more abundant than the other feeding types. The number of dominating species has fluctuated greatly in the years after the wildfire.
We studied the community structure of dung beetles in the dung of livestock in the Khar-Yamaat Nature Reserve of Mongolia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity and composition (species richness, abundance, and biomass) of dung beetles in the different types of herbivore dung, and also differences between seasonality. As a result, we revealed a total of 15 species of dung beetles belonging to there genera and two families. There were few dominating species, such as Aphodius comma, Aphodius altaicus and Aphodius antiquus. Among these, Aphodius comma was the predominant species, which occupied 44.4% of a total surveyed dung. Species richness and biomass per dung were significantly higher in horse dung than in cow dung. We found 15 species in horse dung and 11 species in cow dung. However, a relative abundance of beetle guilds was similar in both dung types. Species diversity (Shannon-Wiener index, H') of dung beetles was significantly higher in horse dung than in cow dung. Also, we recorded more abundance of beetles in the middle of summer (June) than in late summer (August). Key words: abundance, diversity, dung types, richness, steppe pastureland
We studied the community structure of dung beetles in livestock dung within the steppe ecosystem of Mongolia. We found 15 species of dung beetles belonging to three families and representing two functional guilds, namely paracoprids and endocoprids. All species were found in the horse dung, but only 11 species inhabited cow dung, and except Geotrupes koltzei none of these species seemed linked exclusively to one kind of dung. A few species dominated the communities, specifi cally Aphodius comma, Aphodius altaicus and Aphodius antiquus. Among these, Aphodius comma was the predominant species, occupying 44.4% of total surveyed dungs. Species richness, biomass, and abundance of beetles per dung were signifi cantly higher in horse dung than cow dung. Abundance of beetles was signifi cantly higher in the middle of summer than in late summer, but species richness was not signifi cantly diff erent between the middle of and late summer. This study constitutes one of the fi rst eff orts to systematically understand dung beetle assemblages in the steppe of Mongolia, including the eff ects of dung types and environmental gradients on beetle communities.
