Distribuição de besouros carpófagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) em fragmentos do cerrado: um estudo comparativo entre áreas de borda, intermediário e interior

Abstract

The Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna, characterized by its rich species diversity and the importance of providing ecosystem services and maintaining biodiversity. However, despite being considered the most biodiverse tropical savanna in the world, it faces growing challenges due to abrupt reductions in its landscape. Landscape fragmentation promotes the formation of interfaces between two habitats, favoring the establishment of some species in the region, resulting in modifications in the local dynamics of both flora and fauna species. Beetles of the subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) stand out for their great diversity and play fundamental roles in ecosystem maintenance. Among the various trophic resources exploited by them are decomposing fruits. Carpopagy has helped various scarab beetles survive in environments, especially under significant anthropic pressure, making the understanding of the relationship between scarab beetles and fruit availability essential for the development of effective conservation and biodiversity management strategies in the Cerrado. In this context, this dissertation aims to understand how the presence of endemic Cerrado fruits in edge areas could influence the scarab beetle community of the subfamily Scarabaeinae. Through this study, we concluded that the influence of trophic resources present in edge areas is related to the abundance of scarab beetles in these areas, and that in the absence of these fruiting trees, there is a reduction in scarab beetles. This study highlights the importance of these trophic resources for maintaining biodiversity.