When grazed intensively, grasslands can result in biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions. However, when grasslands are maintained using agroecological practices, they can create diverse habitats and act as carbon sinks. Carbon sequestration in soil is mediated by the soil microbial community, which is largely affected by influxes of nutrients and the soil arthropod community. One such arthropod, the tunneling dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Schreber 1759) incorporates animal dung into the soil, influencing both the soil microbial community and nutrient cycling. While dung beetles do affect the soil microbial community, there is a dearth of studies that examine the effect of tunneling dung beetles on soil microbial communities that may be associated with nutrient cycling. This study looks at the effect of the tunneling dung beetle O. taurus on the fungal, bacterial, and archaeal community of grassland soil in an in situ experiment in California's Central Coast region, using eDNA metabarcoding of the 16S locus for bacteria and archaea and the ITS1 locus for fungi. We find that O. taurus has a clear effect on the soil microbial community and its presence increases the abundance of soil microbes affiliated with degrading plant materials and carbohydrate metabolism.

当密集放牧时，草原会导致生物多样性丧失和温室气体排放增加。然而，当利用农业生态实践来维护草原时，它们可以创造多样化的栖息地并充当碳汇。土壤中的碳封存是由土壤微生物群落介导的，而土壤微生物群落在很大程度上受到养分流入和土壤节肢动物群落的影响。其中一种节肢动物是隧道粪甲虫Onthophagus taurus(Schreber 1759) 将动物粪便掺入土壤中，影响土壤微生物群落和养分循环。虽然粪甲虫确实影响土壤微生物群落，但缺乏研究来检验粪甲虫对土壤微生物群落的影响，这些影响可能与养分循环有关。本研究在加利福尼亚州中部海岸地区进行的原位实验中，利用细菌和古细菌 16S 基因座的 eDNA宏条形码和真菌的ITS1位点。我们发现O.金牛座对土壤微生物群落有明显的影响，它的存在增加了与植物材料降解和碳水化合物代谢相关的土壤微生物的丰度。