ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Aristophanous, Marios (2014) Understanding patterns of endemic dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) biodiversity in the Australian Wet Tropics rainforest. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/41143/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/41143/ Understanding Patterns Of Endemic Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) Biodiversity In The Australian Wet Tropics Rainforest: Implications Of Climate Change Thesis submitted by Marios Aristophanous (B.Sc) (GcertResMeth) 1st October 2014 Temnoplectron involucre Matthews, flightless subregional endemic species. Spec Uplands, Paluma, 900 m a.s.l., 25 / I / 2011. For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the School of Marine and Tropical Biology James Cook University Townsville, Queensland Australia i STATEMENT OF SOURCES Declaration I, the undersigned, author of this work, declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. Every reasonable effort has been made to gam perm1ss1on and acknowledge the owners of copyright material. I would be pleased to hear from any copyright owner who has been omitted or incorrectly acknowledged. 11 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents Aristos Costa Aristophanous and Chrystalla Charalambous Aristophanous, “thank you” and to the memory of my great-grandfather Kostas Xenophontos, “grandad, I know now what you meant, and yes, I have built many homes” Η παρούσα διατριβή είναι αφιερωμένη στους γονείς μου Άριστο Κώστα Αριστοφάνους και Χρυστάλλα Χαραλάμπους Αριστοφάνους, «σας ευχαριστώ» Και στη μνήμη του προπάππου μου Κώστα Ξενοφόντος, «άπαππου, τωρά εκατάλαβα, και ναι, έχτισα πολλά σπίτια» iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the guidance of my PhD supervisors Steve Williams and Richard Rowe. I thank Steve Williams for accepting me in the Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change (CTBCC) and for introducing me to the fascinating Australian Wet Tropics. I would like to wish Richard Rowe a happy retirement in Atherton. I will come knocking on your door with a black light and white sheet to catch beetles in your garden, with some red wine of course! I am indebted to Geoff Monteith who graciously dedicated much of his time to teach me Scarabaeinae taxonomy, and provided an AWT dung beetle reference collection (loan number: LEN–2214) from the QLD museum. I would like to express my gratitude to Yvette Williams for her administrative and logistical assistance in the CTBCC. Thanks are due to April Reside and Jeremy VanDerWal for their help with Maxent and R. I would like to thank Collinsworth Storliengton, Scott Parsons, Kyran Staunton, and Rohan Wilson for their help and good times in the field and lab. Fieldtrips would not have been as much fun without the life changing conversations, Arnold quotes, and search for the elusive Sooty Owl. You all have my most maximum respect. I would also like to thank Kyran Staunton, Scott Parsons, and April Reside for making the time to read and provide comments on drafts of my chapters. I am particularly grateful for the assistance of other members of the CTBCC, Andrés Merino-Viteri, Alex Anderson, Arnaud Gourret, Jeremy Little, Lauren Hodgson, Brooke Bateman, Tamara Inkster, Anna McGuire, Vanessa Valdez-Ramírez, Lorena Falconi, Luke Shoo and Ben Phillips. I thank the many Earthwatch volunteers and Veronique Mocellin, Benedicte Mamin Eftevand, Sydney Jones, and Krystal Kunig for their assistance in the field. This thesis would not have been possible without the support, understanding, and encouragement of my family in Cyprus, in particular my parents Aristos and iv Chrystalla, brother Konstantinos, sisters Thekla and Roulla, sister-in-law Evaggelia, and brother-in-law Dimitri, for which I am extremely grateful. I also thank my Grandparents Konstantinos and Thekla for taking care of me during the last stages of writing in Cyprus. Thanks are due to my uncle Charis, aunt Aleka and cousin Constantino for their warm hospitality during the cold winter months. My uncle Loukas, aunt Toulla and cousins Panagiotis “Peter” and Thekli are thanked for their constant support and encouragement. I thank my nephews Aristos, Panagiotis, and niece Ismini for reminding me to concentrate on more important things in life such as playing hide-and-seek. Lastly I thank my nephew “Chubby Cheeks” George, who was born during the review processes of this thesis, for...well, for being born! I am grateful for the friendship and support of my housemates and friends from Townsville, Ebbe Jakobsen, Ayesha Yousef Al Blooshi, Venessa Quatre, Miriam Hood, Lorenzo Fattori, Dareen Al Mojil, Javier Moch Martínez, Roddy “Bala” Virelala, Mick Ellison, Miwa Takahashi, Alexia Pihier, Vasiliki Tziouveli, Paolina Cetina Heredia, Manue Botte, Sara Busilacchi, Paolo Momigliano, Christian De Santis, Kostas Konnaris, Mick Biddulph, Anita Giraldo, Cecelia Villacorta Rath, Irene Fuertes Jerez, Sam Noonan, Zuzu, Davina, Gaia Giakali, Arnold Mangott, Jessica Maddams, Nick Von Alvensleben, Eduardo Sandoval, and Vasilis Vasiliou, Andreas Skarou, and Zacharias Koumourou. Thanks for the friendship, emotional support, great meals, awesome camping trips, and Bergin Massive extravaganzas! This research was funded by a PhD scholarship from the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility of the Australian Government. Additional grants for fieldwork were provided by the CTBCC and James Cook University Graduate Research Scheme. The Richard Rowe Entomology lab kindly provided laboratory workspace and resources necessary for the identification and preparation of specimens. Sue Reilly is thanked for her advice on preservatives. I thank the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service for access to the Wet Tropics National Parks under permit WITK05468508. v STATEMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF OTHERS Research Stipend PhD stipend scholarship awarded from the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (http://www.rrrc.org.au/mtsrf/), Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Research funding Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change James Cook University, Graduate Research Scheme Richard Rowe Entomology Laboratory Supervision Professor Stephen Williams, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Dr Richard Rowe, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Taxonomic support Dr Geoff Monteith, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Modelling support Dr April Reside, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Dr Jeremy VanDerWal, Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. vi PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS THESIS Manuscripts in review Chapter 3 Aristophanous, M., G. B. Monteith, A. E. Reside, S. E. Williams & J. VanDerWal. in review. Advancing realism in species distribution models through use of “realised”, not “potential” distributions. Plos One. Manuscripts in preparation Chapter 4 Aristophanous, M., G. B. Monteith, R. Rowe & S. E. Williams. in prep. Historical and contemporary drivers of dung beetle patterns of biodiversity in the Australian Wet Tropics. To be submitted to Diversity and Distributions. Chapter 5 Aristophanous, M., G. B. Monteith, R. Rowe & S. E. Williams. in prep. Drivers of dung beetle biodiversity along elevational gradients in the Australian Wet Tropics. To be submitted to Diversity and Distributions. Chapter 6 Aristophanous, M., G. B. Monteith & S. E. Williams. in prep. Projected effects of climate change on the dung beetles of the Australian Wet Tropics. To be submitted to Plos One. Manuscripts published as part of a preliminary study associated with this thesis Aristophanous, M. 2010. Does your preservative preserve? A comparison of the efficacy of some pitfall trap solutions in preserving the internal reproductive organs of dung beetles. Zookeys, 34, 1–16. vii THESIS ABSTRACT Anthropogenic climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity, threatening many ecosystems and taxa with extinction. An understanding of the factors influencing species distribution and diversity is vital for assessing their vulnerability to climate change. This is particularly the case for tropical rainforest insects that constitute the bulk of all known biodiversity, provide many ecosystem services, and yet, remain poorly studied. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are a keystone insect taxon of great ecological and economical importance. Their feeding and nesting behaviour contributes towards many ecological functions, such as the removal and recycling of animal waste. Thus, climate change induced alterations in dung beetle biodiversity have the potential to disrupt such ecosystem services, negatively impacting proper ecosystem