[Morphoecology guild in beetles (Coleoptera: Passalidae) along an altitudinal gradient in oak forests of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia].

Bess beetles are important components on tropical forest dead wood nutrient cycling, since they act as direct consumers and ease the consumption by another organism (indirect). Studies of bess beetle ecology are scarce and have focused on communities responses to environmental changes on alimentary resources. We characterized the bess beetles guild composition in an elevation gradient, according to their differential use of resources (microhabitat) and morphological traits quantification (geometric and lineal), as a potential tool to improve our understanding on resource use and functional ecology of beetles.