Dung beetles reduce livestock gastrointestinal parasite availability on pasture

• Published in: The Journal of applied ecology Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 1180 - 1189
• Main Authors: Sands, Bryony, Wall, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.08.2017; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural landscapes; animal husbandry; anthelmintic; Anthelmintic agents; anthelmintics; Antiparasitic agents; Aphodius; Aphodius spp; Availability; Beef; Beef cattle; Beetles; biogeochemical cycles; Cattle; cattle dung; Climate; Colonization; Conservation; coprophagous beetle; Cycles; Degradation; Deposition; Dung; dung beetles; Economic conditions; endectocide; England; Exposure; Feces; field experimentation; forage; gastrointestinal system; Grazing; habitats; helminths; infective larvae; insect communities; Insects; Lactones; Larvae; Livestock; Nutrient cycles; parasite ecology; Parasites; Pasture; Pastures; Populations; rain; Rainfall; Recovering; Recycling; Residues; strongyle; Summer; Survival; temperate zones; toxicity; England
• ISSN: 0021-8901; 1365-2664
• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12821

1. Anthelmintics are widely used to control gastrointestinal parasites of livestock. However, the residues of these compounds, particularly the macrocyclic lactones, are excreted largely unmetabolised in faeces, where they may have toxic effects on dung-colonising insects. Impoverishment of the copr...