Introduction:

The effects of habitat transformation have been widely studied and the effects are well-known at different levels of biological organization. However, few studies have focused on responses to this process at the level of multiple taxa in diverse taxonomic and functional groups.

Objective:

Determine the variations in taxonomic and functional diversity of ants, butterflies, and dung beetles, at a spatial and temporal level in a landscape mosaic of the ecoregion of the Colombian foothills.

Methods:

We assessed amount of natural habitat and landscape composition in four types of vegetation, during the highest and lowest rain periods. We collected butterflies with hand nets and used baited pitfall traps for dung beetles and ants.

Results:

Habitat loss positively affected ant and butterfly species richness, and negatively affected dung beetles. The abundance of ants and butterflies had a positive effect on the dominance of species in the transformed vegetation, for dung beetles the abundance was negatively affected by the absence of canopy cover. Habitat loss had no negative effect on functional diversity as there is no difference between natural and transformed vegetation.

Conclusions:

The amount of habitat, habitat connectivity and different types of vegetation cover were important factors in the maintenance of insect diversity in the modified ecosystems of foothills of the Colombian Orinoquia. The lack of a common spatial and temporal pattern shows that studies of multiple insect taxa should be carried out for biodiversity monitoring and conservation processes.