Low-intensity pasture management sustain dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity in Cerrado/Caatinga transition zones

Abstract Increasing grazing pressure for food production is a major challenge for biodiversity conservation in tropical dryland, particularly in ecologically complex transition zones that harbor substantial global biodiversity. Despite their high conservation value, the effects of grazing management on biodiversity in drylands remain poorly understood. We investigated how land-use intensity and local environmental metrics influence both taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles in native habitats and pastures under contrasting management intensities within a Cerrado–Caatinga transition zone in Brazil. Species richness was significantly higher in native areas and low-intensity pastures than in high-intensity pastures. Vegetation heterogeneity negatively affected the abundance of small- and medium-sized dung beetles in native areas and high-intensity pastures, while exerting positive effects in low-intensity pastures. Soil sand content showed contrasting effects on functional richness, increasing it in low-intensity pastures but reducing it in high-intensity pastures. Although dung beetle species composition differed among land-use types, low-intensity pastures shared a substantially greater number of species with native habitats than high-intensity pastures. Implications for insect conservation Our results demonstrate that low-intensity pasture management sustains both taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles and enhances habitat permeability for species originating from native environments. Promoting less intensive grazing practices in dryland transition regions can therefore represent an effective strategy to reconcile livestock production with insect conservation and the maintenance of key ecosystem services.