Dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) decompose livestock dung by eating and burying the dung and facilitate nutrient recycling in the pasture ecosystem. Dung beetles are, however, declining in number and diversity and the rapid extinction of dung beetles would lead to loss of the ecosystem functioning. We assessed and inferred dung decomposition by diversified beetle communities and analyzed factors related to spatial diversity of dung beetles on a geographical scale.

Dung beetles in East Asia are composed of two major functional groups: tunnelers that dig tunnels in the ground under dung pad and bury dung pellets to raise larvae and dwellers that lay eggs in dung pad on the ground and larvae grow in the dung pad. It was possible that mixture of different species and functional groups effectively decompose dung in different ways and by occurring in different seasons.

The beetle diversity increased by aggregation of pastures and surrounding deciduous forests and decreased by artificial forests. The hierarchical local diversities contributed statistically more to the total diversity on the geographical scale. We conclude that diversified dung beetle communities facilitate nutrient recycling, and for utilization of such ecosystem service to conserve surrounding land use and to maintain local pastures are effective.