Abstract:
Global biodiversity is increasingly threatened by extensive forest conversion. It makes the effective monitoring, evaluation, and restoration efforts essential. Due to limited resources, indicator species are often used to assess the degree of disturbance. Indicator species are sensitive to environmental changes. Dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are well-known as effective bioindicators due to their sensitivity to habitat changes. Their communities undergo significant shifts in response to disturbances affecting their ecosystem functions. This makes them an ideal tool for evaluating the ecological impacts of habitat changes.
In this talk, we used dung beetles to assess the impact of rainforest conversion to rubber plantations on insect communities in tropical Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China. The effects were measured at the community level by evaluating changes in the dung beetle community and ecosystem functioning by measuring dung removal, secondary seed dispersal, and soil escavation by dung beetles. Additionally, we explored the application of Invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA), a subclass of Environmental DNA (eDNA), to improve the use of dung beetles as a tool for biodiversity assessments and study micro-level associations in response to habitat conversion.
Overall, this talk will highlight the adverse effects of rainforest conversion to rubber plantations, from community-level changes to micro-level associations, and discuss the subsequent impact on ecosystem functions. It will also show the potential of dung beetles, combined with molecular techniques, as an effective and valuable tool for biodiversity surveys.
Speaker: Dr. Thilina S Nimalrathna
Affiliation: The University of Hong Kong
Time: 3:00 PM, Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Venue: Offline: The Conference Hall in Xishuangbanna Headquarter
Online: Tencent Meeting ID：354 443 862
