The transformation of forests into agricultural and livestock systems negatively affects the ecological dynamics and the ecosystem services provided by different groups of insects, including dung beetles, which stand out for their importance in recycling livestock dung. Since the 1980s, farmers in different regions of the world have been using Ivermectin to control parasites that affect cattle. The main route of elimination of this molecule and its metabolites is through manure, which affects the richness, abundance, and biomass of dung beetles when they use dung from treated animals. To quantify this effect, we carried out an experimental design in the field in the Colombian Caribbean, where nine cattle farms were evaluated, of which three were taken for each of the different cattle management practices most used in the region: (i) Ivermectin not applied, (ii) two doses of Ivermectin at 1% applied per year and (iii) two doses of Ivermectin at 3.15% applied per year. To assess the richness, abundance, biomass, and functional groups of dung beetles, during the dry and wet seasons, 30 pitfall traps were baited on each farm with fresh cattle manure with the same management doses described above. A total of 25,441 individuals belonging to 19 genera and 30 species were collected. The richness, abundance, and biomass of beetle assemblages decreased along the gradient represented by management without using Ivermectin and management where Ivermectin was used. Paracoprid beetles were the functional group that was most negatively affected in cattle farms with Ivermectin use. In cattle farms where Ivermectin was not used, there was a greater diversity and higher functional structure of dung beetle assemblages than in those where this veterinary medicinal product was used. Using Ivermectin generates short- and long-term effects on the richness, abundance, biomass, and functional groups of dung beetles in livestock systems in the Colombian Caribbean. Therefore, we suggest using integrated treatment management to prevent the recycling fauna from being affected.

Objective: To determine the leaf litter myriapod community in two restoration strategies of a protective area of Colombia, a secondary forest and an Andean alder plantation. Scope: The knowledge of the biodiversity of invertebrates associated with leaf litter breakdown in restoration forests may contribute to assessing the restoration process efficiency and success. Within this forested soil biodiversity framework, myriapods influence organic matter dynamics by transforming leaf litter (or other plant-derived materials), reducing the surface of decomposition, and affecting decomposer communities and their interactions. Methodology: We designed a leaf litter translocation experiment using leaf litter of Alnus acuminata Kunth and Hedyosmum bonplandianum Kunth, the most abundant species in each restoration strategy underway from the 60s in the Reserva Natural Río Blancoy Quebrada Olivares, Manizales, Colombia. We measured the myriapod richness and abundance two and four months after beginning the leaf litter decomposition experimental trials. Main results: Classes Diplododa, Chilopoda, and Symphyla colonized the leaf litter in both restoration strategies. The restoration strategy affected myriapod richness, abundance and composition. Myriapod richness and abundance were greater in the Andean alder plantation, millipedes were the most abundance myriapods. Myriapod composition also differs among litter species. The plant composition of each restoration strategy could lead to differences in litterfall quality and, consequently, in the resources available for the colonization of the myriapod community, which contributes directly and indirectly to the decomposition process in the restoration strategies.