Technical Note
Part One - Dung Beetles
AUTHOR: Lahra Harcourt-Brown
BSc(Hons) BVM&S MRCVS
Ivermectin has well documented lethal effects on dung beetle populations.
Dung beetles have an important role in climate change mitigation, aiding in reduction of greenhouse gas emission from faeces, where methane emission is much reduced in the presence of dung beetle populations. However, most relevant to our interest in the direct health of the soil, dung beetles hold a key role.
Their integral role in soil nutrient cycling and the well-studied knowledge that Ivermectin is directly harmful to their populations, highlights the immediate and significant need to do everything possible to reduce the use of the harmful chemical on farm.
Use of Ivermectin increases the risk of dung beetle loss from the soil environment and compromises growth potential of the forage a grazing system is dependent on.
Further reading:
Adler, N. et al. (2015) ‘Effects of ivermectin application on the diversity and function of dung and Soil Fauna: Regulatory and scientific background information’, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 35(8), pp. 1914–1923. doi:10.1002/etc.3308.
Anderson, D.J., Berson, J.D., Didham, R.K., Simmons, L.W., Evans, T.A., (2024) ‘Dung beetles increase plant growth: A meta-analysis’, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2019). doi:10.1098/rspb.2023.2885.
Junco, M., Iglesias, L.E., Sagués, M.F., Guerrero, I., Zegbi, S., Saumell, C.A.., (2021) ‘Effect of macrocyclic lactones on nontarget coprophilic organisms: a review.’ Parasitol Res 120, 773–783 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021- 07064-4
Piccini, I., Nervo, Beatrice., Forshage, Mattias., Celi, Luisella., Palestrini, Claudia., Rolando, Antonio., Roslin, Tomas., (2018) ‘Dung beetles as drivers of ecosystem multifunctionality: Are response and effect traits interwoven?’, Science of The Total Environment, 616–617, pp. 1440–1448. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.171.
Verdú, J. R., Lobo, J. M., Sánchez-Piñero, F., Gallego, B., Numa, C., Lumaret, J. P., Cortez, V., Ortiz, A. J., Tonelli, M., García-Teba, J. P., Rey, A., Rodríguez, A., & Durán, J. (2018). ‘Ivermectin residues disrupt dung beetle diversity, soil properties and ecosystem functioning: An interdisciplinary field study.’ Science of the Total Environment, 618, 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.331
