What microhabitat variables affect ants and dung beetle assemblages using dung-baited traps in the Southern Chihuahuan Desert?

Habitat complexity plays an important role in determining species richness and composition of ants and dung beetles, two groups of insects used as bioindicators. We assessed the influence of microhabitat structure on the species richness and abundance of the ant and dung beetle community in a semiarid environment of the Sierra de San Miguelito in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The two groups were sampled in 2017 using dung-baited pitfall traps distributed across four contrasting sampling sites from riparian to semiarid environments. We found that ant species richness and abundance were significantly affected by microhabitat structure but not those of dung beetles. By studying two contrasting groups we concluded that ants respond more to changes at the habitat level than at the landscape level, while beetle diversity responses can best be seen at the landscape level. This highlights the importance of multitaxon studies that enables us to describe patterns and differentiated responses of biodiversity, especially in dry environments, where climate changes are more marked.