Seasonality as a structuring factor of the dung beetle community in burned neotropical savannas

Abstract Savanna communities face structuring challenges from climate change, land use and altered fire regimes. In the Brazilian Cerrado, fire is a prevalent natural disturbance fundamentally shaping ecosystems, vegetation and biodiversity. Post‐fire vegetation recovery, driven by nutrient influx and seasonality, modulates resource availability, impacting dung beetles. While dung beetles generally show fire resilience, composition and co‐occurrence may shift with varying disturbance sensitivities. We investigated short‐term fire, vegetation cover and seasonality effects on dung beetle richness, composition and co‐occurrence in open Brazilian savannas. We hypothesized minimal fire impacts and stable co‐occurrence patterns regardless of burn status, predicting seasonality and vegetation cover as primary community drivers. Field sampling (October 2020–March 2021) covered the dry‐to‐rainy season transition and the rainy season using baited pitfall traps. Fire had no significant effect on species richness, which consistently increased from November (rainy season onset). Seasonality primarily influenced species composition, followed by fire and vegetation cover, remaining dominant in both burned and unburned sites. Co‐occurrence patterns across all sites were predominantly random. These results underscore high dung beetle resilience to short‐term fire events. Seasonality and vegetation recovery emerged as stronger composition determinants than direct fire effects. Understanding these dynamics is essential for effective fire management and biodiversity conservation in Neotropical savannas.