Conservation of heterogeneity among dung beetles in the Maputaland Centre of Endemism, South Africa Berndt J. Van Rensburg*, Melodie A. McGeoch, Steven L. Chown, Albert S. Van Jaarsveld Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Received 4 April 1998; received in revised form 1 September 1998; accepted 1 September 1998 Abstract In southern Africa the Maputaland Centre is one of the most signi®cant, though less well-known, centres of biotic endemism. Here we examine variation in dung beetle assemblages between habitats and between reserves on two Maputaland reserves (Tembe Elephant Park and Sileza Nature Reserve). Dung beetle assemblages were found to be homogeneous within habitat types and within reserves, but assemblages diered between habitat types (Sand Forest and Mixed Woodland). There was, however, sig- ni®cant between-reserve heterogeneity in dung beetle assemblages for each particular habitat type. Given that there are signi®cant dierences in both dung beetles and plants, it is clear that these forests must be conserved in both Tembe and Sileza, especially because of increasing damage by elephants to Sand Forests in Tembe. We identify dung beetle indicator species that are speci®c to each habitat type in each reserve, and detector species that can be used to monitor changes in Sand Forests in those reserves. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Detector species; Dung beetle assemblages; Endemism; Indicator species 1. Introduction Priority conservation areas identi®ed at broad global or regional scales (e.g. priority grids identi®ed by selec- tion algorithms) are heterogeneous and cannot be translated into eective local conservation strategies without reference to local landscape and species dis- tribution patterns. This local heterogeneity can be per- vasive across scales and may signi®cantly complicate the development of eective regional conservation strategies (Wiens, 1989; Noss, 1990; Flather et al., 1997). A case in point is the Maputaland-Pondoland Regional Mosaic, previously known as the Tongaland-Pondoland Regio- nal Mosaic in southern Africa (White, 1983). In this centre of endemism there are at least two clear foci of high ¯oristic endemism (Van Wyk, 1990, 1994), of which the northernmost is termed the Maputaland Centre (Fig. 1). The Centre constitutes the southernmost end of the tropics in eastern Africa, and many tropical plant and animal species reach their southernmost distributional limits here (Poynton, 1961; Van Wyk, 1996). The region, which is invariably included in South African area selection analysis (Cowling and Hilton-Taylor, 1994; Lombard, 1995) can be divided into a number of major habitat types (see Moll, 1977, 1980) of which the Sand Forest habitat has the highest plant diversity and a sig- ni®cant number of endemic plant species. It appears that many of the Maputaland Centre's endemic verte- brate species and subspecies are also restricted to Sand Forest (Van Wyk, 1996). Moreover, there are signi®cant dierences in the plant communities of Sand Forest between the Tembe and Sileza reserves (Matthews, pers. comm.). The invertebrate fauna of this heterogeneous land- scape is poorly studied. It is not known, for example, whether invertebrate assemblages in the region are similarly heterogeneous, or the extent to which the two major habitat types (Sand Forest and Mixed Wood- land) are characterized by endemic or specialist faunas. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) were chosen as the target group of this study to establish the extent to which an invertebrate assemblage in the Centre matches the high level of ¯oral and vertebrate diversity and endemism. Dung beetles were chosen because they are BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION Biological Conservation 88 (1999) 145±153 0006-3207/99/$Ðsee front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0006-3207(98)00109-8 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 12 420 3236; fax: +27 12 362 5242; e-mail: bjvrensb@zoology.up.ac.za