Traits are key for understanding the environmental responses and ecological roles of
organisms. Trait approaches to functional ecology are well established for plants, whereas …

Dung beetle populations, in decline, play a critical ecological role in extensive pasture
ecosystems by recycling organic matter; thus the importance of their conservation status …

Classifying organisms has a wide use and a long history in ecology. However, the meaning
of a 'group of organisms' and how to group organisms is still the subject of much theoretical …

Studies investigating how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning increasingly focus on
multiple functions measured simultaneously (“multifunctionality”). However, few such studies …

Use of ivermectin in agro-ecosystems negatively affects non-target dung beetles, which
provide keystone ecosystem services for pasture functioning. While the direct effects of …

Many studies document high levels of functional redundancy in ecosystems, suggesting that
species extinctions will not be detrimental to ecosystem functions and services. However …

Scarab beetles colonizing vertebrate feces are considered polyphagous insects, because
they often use dung of several species. However, recent works have provided evidence for …

The role of deterministic and stochastic mechanisms in community assembly is a key
question in ecology, but little is known about their relative contribution in dung beetle …

The decline of roller dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) in Italy, at national and
regional level, was described using a database of both literature and unpublished data …

Dung beetles are an ecologically important group of insect species inhabiting semi-natural
grasslands in Europe. Despite their ecological importance, several dung beetle species are …