Reorganization Rather Than Loss: Dung Beetle Assemblages Across Urban Habitats in Brazilian Montane Forests

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Habitat conversion and increasing urban pressure reshape tropical biodiversity, yet assemblage‐level responses may vary across spatial scales and habitat types. Dung beetles perform key ecosystem functions and respond rapidly to environmental change, making them effective models for assessing community reorganization under disturbance. Here, we evaluate how urbanization intensity and surrounding landscape composition influence the taxonomic diversity and composition of dung beetle assemblages across Neotropical montane forest habitats. We sampled multiple habitat types using standardized baited pitfall traps and quantified landscape variables within 200‐m buffers defined according to dispersal and spatial‐independence criteria. Urbanization had no significant effect on local species richness or dung beetle abundance, but assemblage dissimilarity and species replacement varied among habitat types. Multivariate analyses revealed significant shifts in assemblage composition associated with landscape structure, with species replacement accounting for a larger proportion of explained variance than richness differences. Although montane forests retained high taxonomic diversity under urban influence, assemblage turnover was primarily structured by landscape composition rather than urbanization intensity alone. These results emphasize the role of habitat type and landscape configuration in mediating assemblage reorganization and provide insights for conservation planning of tropical montane biodiversity within expanding urban mosaics.