Communities of Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in the Steppe of Mongolia

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, specifically 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 significantly higher in horse dung than cow dung. Abundance of beetles was significantly higher in the middle of summer than in late summer, but species richness was not significantly different between the middle of and late summer. This study constitutes one of the first efforts to systematically understand dung beetle assemblages in the steppe of Mongolia, including the effects of dung types and environmental gradients on beetle communities.