The undiscovered dung beetle fauna from Mabu forest, Mozambique – the largest medium-altitude rainforest in southern Africa

Mount Mabu supports the largest continuous block of rainforest in southern Africa, with forest patches at higher altitude reaching approximately 1700 m a.s.l. The foothills are clothed in dense transitional woodland and riparian forest to at least 300 m a.s.l. This region contains exceptional levels of biodiversity; however, biological exploration in the area has been limited. A couple of biodiversity surveys on Mount Mabu recorded large numbers of unique species that are found solely in this region and nowhere else. Although the biological importance of the region is documented for plants, mammals, reptiles and butterflies, very little is known about most of the species that live there. Dung beetles are one of the dominant invertebrates in tropical forests and are essential for a functioning ecosystem. Therefore, this study comprises the first survey of dung beetle diversity in a region with rare and distinctive communities of other animals and plants. We assessed the biogeographical composition of dung beetle species in dense woodland to the Afromontane rainforest. Our results show the highest diversity of dung beetle species in lower dense woodland vegetation types, including a few flightless forest specialist species as recorded in other African mountains forests. Diastellopalpus species were the most dominant in both vegetation types, as expected in the intertropical forests. Our expedition recorded six new species to science and a dozen of new records to the country. This result, plus previous studies in the region, shows how important the Mabu forest is important for biodiversity conservation.