Nutrient Recycling
A significant proportion of nutrients consumed by vertebrates are unable to be extracted in digestion as a result the remaining nutrients are excreted in a form that is usable by plant communities but is prone to desiccation. Dung beetles aid in the reclamation of nutrients by the transfer of dung either through tunneling or rolling balls into the microbe rich environments where the nutrients are able to be recycled enriching soil nutrient levels (Nichols et al. 2008).
Cattle dung can contain 1-3% nitrogen per weight in controlled studies by Macqueen and Beirne (1975) showed that the beetles (Onthophagus nuchicornis L.) are capable of burying up to 37% of each pad from the 5 experimental groups. When applied to a pasture scale it was calculated that the small species would reintroduce 134kg of organic N into the soil ; also predicting that larger species were capable of returning up to 80% of a pad to the soil through tunneling. This process increases organic nitrogen levels in soils becoming available for plants through mineralization. After the dung is in the soil the way nutrients are returned to the soil is through microorganism activity in conjunction with the increased C and N levels in the upper layers of soil fostering bacterial growth increasing N mineralization (Nichols et al. 2008). The activity of the beetles has also been reported to increase the levels of P, K, N, Ca and Mg and can spur the increase in soil pH and cation exchange capacity of soils. With studies showing that N and P uptake by plants increases when dung beetles are present in the environment (Yamada et al. 2007).
Cattle dung can contain 1-3% nitrogen per weight in controlled studies by Macqueen and Beirne (1975) showed that the beetles (Onthophagus nuchicornis L.) are capable of burying up to 37% of each pad from the 5 experimental groups. When applied to a pasture scale it was calculated that the small species would reintroduce 134kg of organic N into the soil ; also predicting that larger species were capable of returning up to 80% of a pad to the soil through tunneling. This process increases organic nitrogen levels in soils becoming available for plants through mineralization. After the dung is in the soil the way nutrients are returned to the soil is through microorganism activity in conjunction with the increased C and N levels in the upper layers of soil fostering bacterial growth increasing N mineralization (Nichols et al. 2008). The activity of the beetles has also been reported to increase the levels of P, K, N, Ca and Mg and can spur the increase in soil pH and cation exchange capacity of soils. With studies showing that N and P uptake by plants increases when dung beetles are present in the environment (Yamada et al. 2007).