Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.

Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) support numerous ecosystem functions in livestock-grazed pastures. Exposure to veterinary anthelmintic residues in livestock dung can have lethal and sublethal effects on dung beetles, and can reduce rates of dung removal, but the immediate and longer-term co...

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Main Authors: Paul Manning, Sarah A Beynon, Owen T Lewis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5553719?pdf=render
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author Paul Manning
Sarah A Beynon
Owen T Lewis
author_facet Paul Manning
Sarah A Beynon
Owen T Lewis
author_sort Paul Manning
collection DOAJ
description Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) support numerous ecosystem functions in livestock-grazed pastures. Exposure to veterinary anthelmintic residues in livestock dung can have lethal and sublethal effects on dung beetles, and can reduce rates of dung removal, but the immediate and longer-term consequences for other dung beetle mediated functions have rarely been studied. We investigated the consequences of anthelmintic exposure on survival of the dung beetle Aphodius fossor and its delivery of four ecosystems functions that underpin pasture production: dung removal, soil fauna feeding activity, primary productivity, and reduction of soil compaction. We tested whether anthelmintic exposure had immediate or delayed effects on these functions individually and simultaneously (i.e., ecosystem multifunctionality). We found no evidence that ivermectin residues had a lethal effect on adult beetles. For dung removal, we found a significant interaction between the timing of exposure and functioning: while dung removal was impaired by concurrent exposure to high levels of ivermectin, functioning was unaffected when beetles that had been exposed previously to the same concentration of anthelmintic later interacted with untreated dung. Other ecosystem functions were not affected significantly by anthelmintic exposure, and there was no evidence to suggest any persistent impact of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem multifunctionality. While anthelmintic residues remain a significant threat to dung beetle populations, for adult beetles, we found no evidence that residues have detrimental consequences for ecosystem functioning beyond the immediate point of exposure.
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spelling doaj.art-86eb35f63e3a48719fe111c65a736bc62022-12-21T22:37:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01128e018273010.1371/journal.pone.0182730Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.Paul ManningSarah A BeynonOwen T LewisDung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) support numerous ecosystem functions in livestock-grazed pastures. Exposure to veterinary anthelmintic residues in livestock dung can have lethal and sublethal effects on dung beetles, and can reduce rates of dung removal, but the immediate and longer-term consequences for other dung beetle mediated functions have rarely been studied. We investigated the consequences of anthelmintic exposure on survival of the dung beetle Aphodius fossor and its delivery of four ecosystems functions that underpin pasture production: dung removal, soil fauna feeding activity, primary productivity, and reduction of soil compaction. We tested whether anthelmintic exposure had immediate or delayed effects on these functions individually and simultaneously (i.e., ecosystem multifunctionality). We found no evidence that ivermectin residues had a lethal effect on adult beetles. For dung removal, we found a significant interaction between the timing of exposure and functioning: while dung removal was impaired by concurrent exposure to high levels of ivermectin, functioning was unaffected when beetles that had been exposed previously to the same concentration of anthelmintic later interacted with untreated dung. Other ecosystem functions were not affected significantly by anthelmintic exposure, and there was no evidence to suggest any persistent impact of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem multifunctionality. While anthelmintic residues remain a significant threat to dung beetle populations, for adult beetles, we found no evidence that residues have detrimental consequences for ecosystem functioning beyond the immediate point of exposure.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5553719?pdf=render
spellingShingle Paul Manning
Sarah A Beynon
Owen T Lewis
Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
PLoS ONE
title Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
title_full Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
title_fullStr Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
title_short Quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species.
title_sort quantifying immediate and delayed effects of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem functioning supported by a common dung beetle species
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5553719?pdf=render
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