| Popis: |
Koprofagne žuželke, med katere spadajo tudi govnači, predstavljajo pomemben člen v dekompoziciji iztrebkov pašne živine. Nerazkrojeni iztrebki namreč zmanjšujejo aktivno površino pašnika. Za govnače iztrebki predstavljajo vir hrane in substrat za ovipozicijo ter razvoj ličink. Zaradi hitrega spreminjanja habitatov, fragmentacije gozda in ostale človekove dejavnosti pa je ogrožena številčnost in vrstna pestrost govnačev. Raziskava je potekala na območju Kozjanskega regijskega parka, za katerega je značilna heterogena struktura habitatov z različnimi deleži kmetijskih in gozdnih površin. Namen raziskave je bil, da preverimo vrstno pestrost govnačev v Kozjanskem regijskem parku. Prav tako smo ugotavljali vpliv deleža gozdne površine na številčnost in vrstno pestrost govnačev ter preferenco različnih vrst govnačev do iztrebkov izbranih vrst herbivorov. Hrošče smo ulovili s talnimi pastmi, za vabo pa uporabili iztrebke različnih vrst živali, vodnega bivola, krave, koze in konja. Skupno smo ujeli 1068 osebkov, ki pripadajo 23 vrstam. Ugotovili smo, da obstaja razlika v abundanci govnačev glede na delež gozdne površine na območju vzorčenja, in sicer se abundanca govnačev povečuje s povečevanjem deleža gozda na izbranih območjih. Delež gozdne površine na diverziteto ni imel vpliva. Prav tako smo ugotovili, da govnači kažejo največjo preferenco do iztrebkov vodnega bivola in krave, sledita jima koza in konj. Coprophagous insects, including dung beetles, have an important role in decomposition of dung from grazing livestock. Namely, undecomposed dung decreases the active area of a pasture. Dung beetles use dung as a food source and a substrate for oviposition and larval development. Rapid habitat destruction, forest fragmentation and other human-induced changes put abundance and species richness of dung beetles at risk. Our investigation was carried out in the Kozjansko Regional Park. The park has a heterogenic habitat structure with different shares of agricultural and forest areas. The aim of the investigation was to study the dung beetle species richness in the Kozjansko Regional Park. We also studied the dung beetles habitat and resource preferences. More precisely, we investigated the influence of forest area shares on the abundance and species diversity of dung beetles. We also investigated preferences of different dung beetle species to the dung of selected herbivores. Beetles were collected using pitfall traps baited with faeces of different animals: a water buffalo, cow, goat and horse. In total 1068 dung beetles were sampled belonging to 23 species. We found out that forest area shares have an important impact on the abundance of dung beetles. The abundance of dung beetles is increasing with increasing of the forest area share. There was no impact of the forest area share on species diversity. Data also showed that beetles were more attracted to the dung of water buffalos and cows than of goats and horses. |
