Dung Beetle Ecology

✍ Scribed by Ilkka Hanski (editor); Yves Cambefort (editor)

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 513
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library; 1195
• Edition: Course Book
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In many ecosystems dung beetles play a crucial role--both ecologically and economically--in the decomposition of large herbivore dung. Their activities provide scientists with an excellent opportunity to explore biological community dynamics. This collection of essays offers a concise account of the population and community ecology of dung beetles worldwide, with an emphasis on comparisons between arctic, temperate, and tropical species assemblages. Useful insights arise from relating the vast differences in species' life histories to their population and community-level consequences. The authors also discuss changes in dung beetle faunas due to human-caused habitat alteration and examine the possible effects of introducing dung beetles to cattle-breeding areas that lack efficient native species. "With the expansion of cattle breeding areas, the ecology of dung beetles is a subject of great economic concern as well as one of intense theoretical interest. This excellent book represents an up-to-date ecological study covering important aspects of the dung beetle never before presented."--Gonzalo Halffter, Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico City

Originally published in 1991.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART ONE Introduction
CHAPTER 1. The Dung Insect Community
CHAPTER 2. From Saprophagy to Coprophagy
CHAPTER 3. Dung Beetle Population Biology
CHAPTER 4. Biogeography and Evolution
PART TWO. Regional Dung Beetle Assemblages
Introduction
CHAPTER 5 North Temperate Dung Beetles
CHAPTER 6. South Temperate Dung Beetles
CHAPTER 7. Dung Beetles in Subtropical North America
CHAPTER 8. Dung Beetles of Southern Africa
CHAPTER 9. Dung Beetles in Tropical Savannas
CHAPTER 10. Dung Beetles in Tropical Forests in South-East Asia
CHAPTER 11. Dung Beetles in Tropical Forests in Africa
CHAPTER 12. Dung Beetles in Tropical American Forests
CHAPTER 13. Dung Beetles of the Sahel Region
CHAPTER 14. Montane Dung Beetles
CHAPTER 15. Native and Introduced Dung Beetles in Australia
PART THREE. Synthesis
Introduction
CHAPTER 16. Spatial Processes
CHAPTER 17. Competition in Dung Beetles
CHAPTER 18. Resource Partitioning
CHAPTER 19. Species Richness
CHAPTER 20. Epilogue
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Index of the Genera in Scarabaeidae
Index