{"id":2677,"date":"2025-01-27T14:58:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T19:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/?p=2677"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:54:16","slug":"of-dung-beetle-hookups-and-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/of-dung-beetle-hookups-and-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Of dung beetle hookups and climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For evolutionary biologist Erin McCullough, the mating rituals of dung beetles are not only fascinating, they also can provide a window into understanding how climate change might affect biodiversity. Native to the Mediterranean but accidentally introduced to Florida in the 1970s, the range of Onthophagus taurus<\/em>\u2014a \u201ctunneling\u201d dung beetle\u2014has expanded steadily northward across the United States to Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Onthphagus<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Studying dung beetles\u2019 mating rituals and expansion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of climate change, we have species expansion,\u201d McCullough<\/a> says. \u201cBut there\u2019s still a lot to learn about why some species are expanding, and why some species are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnderstanding how sexual selection plays a role in all of this is not well documented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers across the world value dung beetles like Onthophagus taurus<\/em> because they degrade manure and aerate and transfer nutrients into the soil. In the United States, dung beetle activity is worth an estimated $6 billion a year to the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Massachusetts, McCullough is studying whether Onthophagus taurus\u2019 <\/em>expansion has affected native dung beetles. And she is examining whether taurus <\/em>has changed its sexual selection traits and tactics as it has expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy in some populations is the introduced species the most abundant? And why in other populations is it not?\u201d McCullough wonders. \u201cI think that patterns of sexual selection may help explain some of these differences.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Department of BIOLOGY<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
School of climate, environment, and society<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For evolutionary biologist Erin McCullough, the mating rituals of dung beetles are not only fascinating, they also can provide a window into understanding how climate change might affect biodiversity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"research-initiaive","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[66,45],"class_list":["post-2677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlights","tag-department-of-biology","tag-school-of-climate-environment-and-society"],"yoast_head":"\nOf dung beetle hookups and climate change | Clark University | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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