Knowledge of ground‐dwelling beetle communities in the tropical Andes: Gaps and trends

Abstract

AbstractThe tropical Andes is one of the most biodiverse ecoregions on Earth, exhibiting high levels of species endemism. The tropical Andes is also one of the most vulnerable ecoregions worldwide due to a long history of anthropogenic transformations. One of the major obstacles for generating conservation plans is gaps in knowledge about the status and threats to many groups of Andean biodiversity, especially invertebrates. Focusing on three important beetle groups (i.e., Coleoptera: ground beetles, rove beetles and dung beetles) in the tropical Andes, we performed a systematic review of scientific literature retrieving 50 studies that allowed us to assess the degree of knowledge across the region, disturbance types, and biodiversity metrics used. We found a high representation of studies in Colombia, compared with other Andean countries. We also found a marked bias among taxonomic groups, topics or metrics evaluated, with dung beetles the most represented group, particularly in studies addressing forest conversion using metrics such as species richness or abundance. We reveal large gaps in information on the diversity of ground and rove beetles, and in the use of other diversity metrics. The lack of information across countries makes it difficult to generalize results and points to the need for more research, especially in under‐represented countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela. Including complementary response metrics, such as biomass, functional diversity or ecological functions, will improve the assessment of human impacts on tropical Andean beetle communities and wider ecosystems.