Diversity and biogeographical makeup of the dung beetle communities inhabiting two mountains in the Mexican Transition Zone

The role of horizontal and vertical colonization on the diversity and integration of the dung beetle fauna of two mountains in the Mexican Transition Zone (Los Tuxtlas and La Chinantla) are analyzed and compared. On each mountain standardized sampling was done using pitfall traps baited with dung and carrion along elevation gradients. On both mountains diversity decreased linearly with increasing elevation. The decrease in the number of genera and species was not different between mountains, but the cumulative total number for both taxonomic levels was significantly higher on La Chinantla. There, three well-defined groups were identified for which species turnover was mainly a result of species gain. On Los Tuxtlas there was no evident grouping pattern, and species turnover was determined by species loss. For both mountains the dominant biogeographic distribution pattern was Neotropical; however, at the higher elevations of La Chinantla, a clear replacement by lineages of Holarctic affinity was observed. We suggest that for La Chinantla—a mountain that is geographically connected to the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range and is of ancient geological origin—the processes of horizontal and vertical colonization have had relatively different weights in terms of their effect on the pattern of diversity and the biogeographic integration of the beetle community, while on Los Tuxtlas, the limited role of horizontal colonization appears to be a consequence of its isolation and more recent geological origin. We discuss the potential use of these models for studying the effects of climate change on elevation gradients.