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Where went the dung-breeding insects of the American bison?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2012

K. Tiberg  and
K.D. Floate
K. Tiberg
Affiliation:
Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 5403 – 1 Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
K.D. Floate*
Affiliation:
Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 5403 – 1 Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: Kevin.Floate@agr.gc.ca).
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Abstract

The demise of the American bison, Bison bison (L.), following European settlement has given rise to two hypotheses regarding the fate of their dung-associated insects. The “extant” hypothesis proposes that all of these taxa now persist in the dung of cattle, Bos taurus L. The “extinction” hypothesis proposes that a subset of these taxa were unable to make this transition and have gone extinct. We examined these hypotheses by comparing the response of coprophilous insects to dung of bison versus cattle on similar diets and versus dung of cattle on different diets. Results showed insects to be more responsive to changes in diet than to changes in host species and, therefore, were supportive of the extant hypothesis. To our knowledge, these data provide the first experimental comparisons of bison dung versus cattle dung as habitat for coprophilous insects.

Résumé

Le déclin des bisons d'Amérique, Bison bison (L.), après l—établissement des européens, a mené à l—élaboration de deux hypothèses concernant le sort des insectes associés à leur bouse. L'hypothèse de la «persistence» veut qu'un sous-ensemble de ces taxons survive dans la bouse des bovins domestiques, Bos taurus L. L'hypothèse de la «disparition» avance qu'un sous-ensemble de ces taxons n'a pas réussi à faire cette transition et s'est éteint. Nous examinons ces hypothèses en comparant les réactions d'insectes coprophiles à de la bouse de bisons par comparaison à de la bouse de bæufs nourris de régimes similaires et de la bouse de bæufs nourris de régimes différents. Les coléoptères réagissent plus fortement aux changements de régime alimentaire qu'aux changements d'espèce hôte; nos résultats appuient donc l'hypothèse de la persistance. À notre connaissance, ces données représentent les premières comparaisons expérimentales de la bouse de bisons et de la bouse de bæufs comme habitats pour les insectes coprophiles.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Research Article
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 143 , Issue 5 , September 2011 , pp. 470 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2011

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