Deforestation and apparent extinctions of endemic forest beetles in Madagascar

DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2007.0043
Publication Year
2007
Publication Site
Biology Letters
Journal Volume
3
Page Numbers
344–347
Family
Scarabaeidae
General topic
Biodiversity/Biogeography
Specific topic
habitat disturbance
Author

Hanski, Ilkka; Koivulehto, Helena; Cameron, Alison; Rahagalala, Pierre

Abstract Note

Madagascar has lost about half of its forest cover since 1953 with much regional variation, for instance most of the coastal lowland forests have been cleared. We sampled the endemic forest-dwelling Helictopleurini dung beetles across Madagascar during 2002–2006. Our samples include 29 of the 51 previously known species for which locality information is available. The most significant factor explaining apparent extinctions (species not collected by us) is forest loss within the historical range of the focal species, suggesting that deforestation has already caused the extinction, or effective extinction, of a large number of insect species with small geographical ranges, typical for many endemic taxa in Madagascar. Currently, roughly 10% of the original forest cover remains. Species–area considerations suggest that this will allow roughly half of the species to persist. Our results are consistent with this prediction.