Motivation
Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ...ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater biodiversity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database, which includes worldwide geo‐referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO).
Main type of variables contained
A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub‐catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location.
Spatial location and grain
The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system.
Time period and grain
Sampling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety‐nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub‐datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors.
Major taxa and level of measurement
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification.
Software format
The entire tab‐separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at https://glowabio.org/project/epto_database/. Fifty individual datasets are also available at https://fred.igb‐berlin.de, while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors.
The male and female imago stage and a new species of the Hermanella complex are described based on material from Pará State, Northern Brazil: Hydromastodon cf. mikei (Thomas & Boutonnet, 2004) and ...Paramaka froehlichi sp. nov. The male imago of Hydromastodon cf. mikei can be distinguished from Hydromastodon sallesi by the following combination of characters: (1) body color pattern, especially abdominal terga translucent white with terga I to IV washed with black on posterior margin; (2) compound eyes anteriorly rounded; (3) medial projection of the styliger plate short; and (4) penis lobes close to each other and with posterolateral projection as long as ½ of its length. The male imago of Paramaka froehlichi sp.nov. can be distinguished the from the other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: (1) fore and hind wings with membrane brown; (2) legs uniformly yellowish-white, without distal band; (3) abdominal terga II to VI with marks more expanded laterally, median line absent; (4) medial projection of the styliger plate broad; (5) base of telopenis arising at distal ⅔ of penis lobe; and (6): body size of 6.1 to 7.6 mm.
Human activities have long been altering the natural conditions of streams, including the quality of their water, throughout most of Brazil. This problem is even worse in regions with low rainfall ...levels, such as the Brazilian Northeast, where water quality needs to be monitored more carefully. In this context, the present study investigated the effects of environmental integrity on the physicochemical characteristics of the streams of the basin of the Itapecuru River in northeastern Brazil. We tested the hypothesis that streams with lower habitat integrity would have higher conductivity, pH, and temperature, due to the reduced input of allochthonous organic matter and the greater washout of sediments to the stream bed. A total of 15 streams, of a sedimentary basin, were evaluated in the municipality of Caxias, in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, between June 2015, and July 2016; each stream was sampled once a month during the drought period in the region, where physicochemical measurements were taken to determine the environmental integrity of the stream through the application of a habitat integrity index. Streams with greater habitat integrity had lower conductivity, pH, and temperature and had higher discharge rates. The index proved to be not an effective tool for the evaluation of water quality, but was found to be important for the management of hydrographic basins by indicating important changes in environmental variables. In this case, the index can be used primarily for the management of hydrographic basins, given that it can be applied straightforwardly, it can be interpreted easily by decision-makers, and it can quantify alterations to the structure of the system with precision.
Stream degradation in Amazonia is outpacing our ability to effectively monitor it for three key reasons: (1) Many changes are cumulative and occur gradually; (2) Scientists have failed to clearly ...link anthropogenic disturbances with ecological and economic indicators of concern to decision makers and the public; (3) There are too many potential indicators to assess in a cost-effective manner. Therefore, we sought to assess congruency at three taxonomic resolutions (species, genus and family) and between assemblages (fish species and macroinvertebrate genera) and groups of taxa (fish: Characiformes and Siluriformes; macroinvertebrates: Anisoptera, Heteroptera, Odonata, Trichoptera, Zygoptera, EPT Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera and THZ Trichoptera, Heteroptera and Zygoptera). To do so, we assessed taxonomic, land-use and habitat data from 92 stream sites in the eastern Amazonian state of Pará. We found that anthropogenic disturbances of our sites influenced abundance and incidence of macroinvertebrate and fish taxa, but the two assemblages responded to slightly different stressors. Family and genera levels were suitable substitutes for similarity patterns measured at the macroinvertebrate genera and fish species levels, respectively. Odonata, Trichoptera, EPT and THZ were highly congruent with whole macroinvertebrate assemblage (genus level) variation. Characiformes was also congruent with whole fish assemblage (species level) variation. Congruence among macroinvertebrates and fish was intermediate (55% to 79%) and related to differing responses to environmental variables. Our results suggest that some groups (e.g., Odonata, Trichoptera and Characiformes) are useful surrogates of macroinvertebrate or fish assemblages to evaluate anthropogenic disturbance in Amazonian streams.
Most of the ongoing decline in biodiversity, worldwide, is due to human activities, in particular, the expansion of agriculture. In this context, we highlight the need for studies of the taxonomic ...groups that can provide insights into the dynamics of the ecological communities facing anthropogenic impacts. For this, we evaluated the effects of the environmental changes caused by cattle ranching on five phytophysiognomies (Cerrado Savanna, Amazon Forest, Palm Forest, Marshland, and Mangrove) in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. We tested the hypothesis that the species composition, abundance, and richness of the families Calliphoridae, Mesembrinellidae, and Sarcophagidae (Diptera) are affected by ranching in each of the phytophysiognomies. Specimens were collected at 90 sites, including 45 anthropic sites (cattle ranches) and 45 preserved habitats, using traps baited with bovine lung. We collected 15,023 calliphorids (11 species), 10,772 sarcophagids (52 species), and 241 mesembrinellids (one species). The results indicated significant differences between anthropic and preserved habitats in the species composition, abundance, and richness of sarcophagids, in particular in the Amazon Forest, where the highest species richness was recorded in the anthropic environments. In the case of the calliphorids and mesembrinellids, by contrast, significant differences were found in species composition and abundance in only in four of the five phytophysiognomies analyzed (excluding the Cerrado Savanna), while species richness only varied in the palm forest and marshland. In all cases, lower values were recorded in the anthropic environments. These results indicate that the insects of the families Sarcophagidae, Calliphoridae, and Mesembrinellidae respond differentially to the anthropic activity (cattle ranching) and can be used to evaluate this type of anthropogenic impact systematically. In addition, the Amazon Forest was the phytophysiognomy most impacted by this activity in the Brazilian state of Maranhão.
The present study was conducted in five different phytogeographic zones of the Brazilian state of Maranhão, three of which (the Amazon Forest, Cerrado, and Palm Groves) are more heterogeneous, ...whereas the other two (Marshlands and Mangroves) are more homogeneous. In each zone, nine sites were visited for the collection of necrophagous flies using bait traps in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The calliphorid and sarcophagid communities observed at each site were compared in terms of species richness, composition, and abundance. The more heterogeneous zones had higher species richness, except in the case of the sarcophagids in the forest habitats. The calliphorids Chloroprocta idioidea (Robineau- Desvoidy, 1830), Mesembrinella bicolor (Fabricius, 1805), Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani, 1850) and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819) were more closely associated with the Cerrado, Palm Grove and Amazon Forest zones, and Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 194) with the Mangrove. In the sarcophagids, Peckia (Euboettcheria) subducta (Lopes, 1935) and P. (Pattonella) palidipilosa (Curran & Walley, 1934) were associated with the Amazon Forest, and P. (Sarcodexia) lambens (Wiedemann, 1830) and Tricharaea (Sarcophagula) occidua (Fabricius, 1794) with the Palm Grove and Cerrado zones. In the calliphorids, the greatest dissimilarity was recorded between the Amazon Forest and the Mangrove and Lowland grassland zones. In the sarcophagids, by contrast, the greatest dissimilarities were recorded between the Amazon Forest and all the other four zones. In general, then, the phytogeographic zones with the highest environmental heterogeneity were characterized by the greatest species richness and abundance of necrophagous flies.
Land use change, notably the conversion of natural habitats into agriculture, has strong negative effects on wild animal populations. Effects of disturbance and seasonality on demographic parameters ...of the damselfly
Mesamphiagrion laterale
Selys, 1876 were assessed to investigate how individual survival probability and over population size changed according to season and anthropogenic disturbance (agricultural habitat vs. forested habitat). For each habitat type, forest cover, area covered by vegetation, percentage of macrophytes and water physicochemical attributes were measured. Likewise, population parameters such as sex ratio, population size, life expectancy, survival and recapture rates were estimated using Cormark-Jolly-Seber (CJ-S) models. Life expectancy of the total population was lower during the rainy season, while population size and survival in males were lower in agricultural habitats during this same season. Human activities related to agriculture and livestock production in the Colombian Andes threaten the long-term viability of odonate populations through degradation of aquatic habitats. Contrary to our initially proposed hypotheses, these effects were more intense for males due to their closer association with riparian vegetation and thus greater exposure to aquatic pollutants.
According to the competitive exclusion principle, species with low competitive abilities should be excluded by more efficient competitors; yet, they generally remain as rare species. Here, we ...describe the positive and negative spatial association networks of 326 disparate assemblages, showing a general organization pattern that simultaneously supports the primacy of competition and the persistence of rare species. Abundant species monopolize negative associations in about 90% of the assemblages. On the other hand, rare species are mostly involved in positive associations, forming small network modules. Simulations suggest that positive interactions among rare species and microhabitat preferences are the most probable mechanisms underpinning this pattern and rare species persistence. The consistent results across taxa and geography suggest a general explanation for the maintenance of biodiversity in competitive environments.
Changes in natural habitats for human use can alter the distribution of biodiversity, favoring species that are more tolerant to environmental disturbance. Usually, these species comprise clades of ...habitat generalists, which have biological mechanisms to colonize environments with different environmental conditions. However, such effects are still poorly understood for most biological groups, such as the Amazon odonates. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of land use along an environmental gradient on the phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity of Odonata in the Amazon. We tested the following hypotheses: In deforested areas (e.g., pasture for cattle, palm plantation, and logging), the Odonata community will be more taxonomically and phylogenetically impoverished than in forested areas. We assume that the modification of the natural habitat causes loss of specialist forest species and favors specialist species of open areas and/or habitat generalists. Data sampling was performed in 195 streams under different land-use types: livestock areas, palm monoculture, timber exploitation, and forest areas taken as reference sites. Our results showed that anthropogenic impacts affected the phylogenetic diversity of odonates and the increase in shrub vegetation was related to the increase in the phylogenetic diversity of communities. On the other hand, shrub vegetation is indicative of disturbed areas, where secondary vegetation predominates, with less canopy cover due to the absence or discontinuity of the native tree cover in these habitats. Nonetheless, species richness and abundance were not related to the effects of anthropogenic land use. Finally, our results suggest that the phylogenetic diversity of Amazonian odonates is related to riparian vegetation structure.
Landscape changes have caused the decline of biodiversity and affected the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we assessed the influence of industrialization associated with urban ...development on aquatic environments and the biodiversity of semiaquatic bugs (Gerromorpha) at different scales (water quality, habitat, and landscape). Using the simple buffer method, we evaluated nine streams assessing water quality variables, habitat structure, and linear features (radius = 300 m, length = 600 m) for the percentage of land use and land cover. Our results found that species composition of Gerromorpha was mainly affected by primary forest cover, habitat integrity, leaves substrate, and water temperature (29% explanation), and the species richness was mostly influenced by the habitat integrity index (HII) and phosphorus concentrations. The model that best explained the variation in species richness showed a positive relationship with phosphorus concentrations and HII (43% variation). Therefore, our results show that those human activities are the main factors altering aquatic biodiversity from local to regional scales. Therefore, the retention of riparian forests – even in urban and industrialized areas – can maintain the diversity of semiaquatic insect species by providing suitable environments for the habitat, feeding, and reproductive requirements of these aquatic organisms. Finally, our results also show that the management of riparian vegetation in urban areas and industrial complexes promotes aquatic biodiversity conservation in regions under development in the Amazon.
•Landscape determines the aquatic species composition in urban and industrial streams.•Habitat integrity in streams increases the semiaquatic bugs species richness.•Phosphorus enrichment in streams increases the semiaquatic bugs species richness.•Amazonian aquatic ecosystems in urban and industrial areas require specific policies.
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