The influence of fragment area on dung beetle communities has already been documented in the literature; for example, in a recent meta-analysis carried out by Nichols et al. (2007), which demonstrated a positive correlation between fragment area and dung beetle species richness.
Area reduction is likely to affect dung beetles indirectly by reduction in food availability as the complete extinction of large mammals and the drastic decline
in bird populations in small forest fragments imply a lesser amount of excrement and carcasses to be used as resources by dung beetles.