As elevation rose in Costa Rica, dung-beetle diversity and dung removal fell together
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Field sampling across 10 sites spanning roughly 440–3,200 m in Costa Rica’s Talamanca range found strong elevational turnover in dung-beetle assemblages. Abundance, species richness and functional diversity declined with elevation, and measured dung-removal rates declined in parallel, connecting taxonomic and functional reorganization with decomposition-related ecosystem function.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
The useful signal is that biodiversity change and ecosystem process can move together along climate gradients—but the functional pathway is carried by community composition and traits, not simply species count.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Elevation bundles temperature, moisture, vegetation, resource supply and other environmental changes, so this observational gradient cannot isolate a single cause. Dung-removal assays measure one function over a bounded period and may not represent all decomposition or nutrient-cycling outcomes.
SOURCE
Biotropica — primary study
View original evidence ↗
Across a tropical mountain gradient, beetle abundance, richness, functional diversity and dung removal all declined with elevation, linking community change to an ecosystem process.
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