摘要：In landscapes where tropical dry forest was once the dominant vegetation type, traditional silvopastoralsystems generate a range of natural and semi-natural habitats, namely fragments of secondary forest and fallow landin various stages of succession; essentially Acacia woodlots. This level of heterogeneity seems to favor the arrivaland persistence of a large number of Scarabaeinae species. Changes in dung and carrion beetle assemblages wereassessed in a silvopastoral landscape in Chiapas, Mexico by intensive sampling using baited pitfall traps. Total speciesrichness decreased from late successional habitats to early successional habitats and average abundance per site washigher in the intermediate successional stages. The silvopastoral system studied is very dynamic; its components mayremain constant or change over time, depending on management. These changing conditions lead to a variable localspecies richness and allow the permeability of certain species within the landscape. There was high species turnoveramong successional habitats, generating a gamma diversity similar to that of tropical dry forest landscapes and 2-foldhigher than the highest recorded alpha diversity value. Silvopastoral systems can buffer the adverse effects of rapidexpansion of open areas and the consequent reduction of tropical dry forest area generated by technified conventionalsystems.
