The present study compared patterns of diversity of the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae (Diptera: Oestroidea) among areas of primary and secondary forest, and clearings in the Amazon biome. ...We evaluated the relationship between habitat specialist and generalist species, verifying their potential for use as bioindicator species. The study was conducted in 27 areas that comprise primary and secondary forests and clearings in the municipality of Juruti, Pará, Brazil. We collected 4286 necrophagous flies in the three study environments. The hypothesis of dissimilarity in the diversity among environments was corroborated for the Sarcophagidae and partly upheld for the Calliphoridae. The sarcophagid species
Oxysarcodexia carvalhoi
(Lopes 1946),
Oxysarcodexia fringidea
(Curran and Walley 1934),
Oxysarcodexia thornax
(Walker 1849), and the calliphorids
Chrysomya megacephala
(Fabricius 1794) and
Cochliomyia macellaria
(Fabricius 1775) were all associated with clearing environments. No sarcophagid species were identified as indicators of primary forest. The calliphorids,
Chloroprocta idioidea
(Robineau-Desvoidy 1830) and
Paralucilia adespota
(Dear 1985) were identified as indicators of primary + secondary forest. The occurrence of indicator species and their levels of tolerance varied considerably between the two families. The calliphorids and sarcophagids both included species capable of representing differences in necrophagous fly’s diversity among clearing, primary and secondary forest environments, which increases the understanding of the ecology of the taxa and their potential use for biomonitoring, management, and habitat conservation.
Implications for insects conservation
In general, sarcophagids had a strong relationship with clearings and secondary forest. Some species show intense scavenger behavior and preference for altered environments. This reinforces the importance of the relationship between species and landscapes. In calliphorids, only Chloroprocta idioidea was associated with primary and secondary forest. We also recorded calliphorid species that prefer clearings and secondary forest and are highly tolerant to variation from abiotic factors, with wide niche breadth due to preference for these landscape types. The niche breadth and the tolerance shown by the species are an indication of the potential success of these organisms in response to anthropic processes and changes in landscapes.
We identified and classified damselfly (Zygoptera) and dragonfly (Anisoptera) metacommunities in Brazilian Amazonia, relating species distribution patterns to known biological gradients and ...biogeographical history. We expected a random distribution of both Zygoptera and Anisoptera within interfluves. At the Amazonian scale, we expected Anisoptera metacommunities to be randomly distributed due to their higher dispersal ability and large environmental tolerance. In contrast, we expected Zygoptera communities to exhibit a Clementsian pattern, limited by the large Amazonia rivers due to their low dispersal ability.
We used a dataset of 58 first-to-third order well-sampled streamlets in four Amazonian interfluves and applied an extension of the Elements of Metacommunity Structure (EMS) framework, in which we order Zygoptera and Anisoptera metacommunities by known spatial and biogeographic predictors.
At the Amazonian scale, both Zygoptera and Anisoptera presented a Clementsian pattern, driven by the same environmental and biogeographical predictors, namely biogeographic region (interfluve), annual mean temperature, habitat integrity and annual precipitation. At the interfluve scale, results were less consistent and only partially support our hypothesis. Zygoptera metacommunities at Guiana and Anisoptera metacommunities at Tapajós were classified as random, suggesting that neutral processes gain importance at smaller spatial scales.
Our findings were consistent with previous studies showing that environmental gradients and major rivers limit the distribution of Odonata communities, supporting that larger Amazonian rivers act as barriers for the dispersal of this group. In addition, the importance of habitat integrity indicates that intactness of riparian vegetation is an important filter shaping metacommunity structure of Amazonian stream Odonata.
Insects of the order Odonata have been used as indicators of environmental quality in different aquatic systems around the world. In this context, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to understand ...the general patterns of research on Odonata published in the past decade (2012–2021). We extracted literature from the Web of Science (WoS) in the advanced search option and used search terms related to Odonata plus search strings for each term. A total of 2764 Odonata publications were identified. The journals with the most published articles on Odonata were Zootaxa, International Journal of Odonatology and Odonatologica. The countries with the most Odonata publications were the USA, Brazil and China. Most studies were conducted on streams, ponds and rivers. Ecology, taxonomy and behavior were the main study topics. Of the total articles on Odonata, 982 involved Zygoptera and 946 Anisoptera. Another 756 studies were focused on both suborders. The increase in ecological and taxonomic studies of Odonata reflects the dynamic characteristics of this order, and its relatively well-defined systematics, especially in the case of adults. Despite the recent increase in the number of publications, there are still many gaps related to topics such as biogeography, parasitism, competition within and between species, evolutionary and phylogenetic relationships, as well as studies of the eggs (e.g., their development) and larval exuviae (e.g., their morphological features).
Anthropic activities affect the dynamics of aquatic communities and can influence the reproductive behavior of many species. In addition, functional diversity is expected to be influenced by the ...environment. In this context, we evaluated how the biological functional characteristics of the Odonata adult community respond to impacts caused by human action on streams in the Eastern Amazon, using bionomic characteristics as response variables. Concomitantly, we analyzed which characteristics are responsible for the presence of species in the environment. We sampled adults of Odonata in 98 preserved and altered streams in the Eastern Amazon. We used as functional characteristics: oviposition, thermoregulation and body size, and as morphological characteristics: width of the thorax, width of the wing at the base, length of the abdomen and length of the thorax. We recorded 80 species, distributed in 16 functional groups and three categories: present in all environments, present only in preserved environments, and present only in altered environments. There was variation in the functional characteristics studied between the environments (PerMANOVA; F = 15,655; P < 0.01), with a significant difference in the composition of attributes between the environments studied. Although PCoA did not find a strong relationship between the functional attributes and the level of integrity, the individuals found in altered areas are heliothermic, exophytic oviposition, with a wider wing width at the base and larger size. Individuals with smaller body size and endophytic and epiphytic oviposition, and thermal and endothermic conformators are found in preserved areas. Our study provides evidence that functional attributes are determining factors for the occurrence of species in the environment. The high quality of environment has a significant effect on the composition of functional groups. Exophytic and heliothermic species are favored by altered environments, while in preserved environments, the species that are best adapted are those that present epiphytic and endophytic oviposition and ectothermic thermoregulation (thermal conformers). As for morphology, altered environments favor medium to large individuals, with greater thorax length and abdomen size, preserved environments may favor the smaller and/or specialized species.
Climatic seasonality provokes considerable variability in the physical conditions of streams. Although few studies have assessed systematically the temporal effects of climate on aquatic communities, ...the diversity and structure of odonate larval assemblages (suborders Anisoptera and Zygoptera) are predicted to be influenced by seasonality. To evaluate this hypothesis, we tested the predictions that (1) the genera and abundance richness of zygopteran and anisopteran larvae will decrease during periods of high precipitation, (2) the genera richness and abundance of the two suborders will be associated inversely with temperature, and (3) the composition of the zygopteran assemblage will be more affected by seasonality, in particular precipitation, than that of the Anisoptera, whose composition will be influenced primarily by temperature. We collected odonate larvae every three months over a 6-year period at a stream located in the Cerrado–Amazon forest transition zone and compared these data with data on the local climate from the same period. Our results indicate that the seasonal variation in precipitation had a significant effect on the abundance of both odonate suborders, but that, while the anisopteran genera richness was affected by precipitation, the zygopteran richness was not. We showed that temperature affected the abundance of both suborders, but had no effect on genera richness. As we predicted, the composition of the zygopteran larval assemblage was affected more by the climatic variables than the Anisoptera. In addition, while the Zygoptera were affected primarily by precipitation, the Anisoptera were influenced most by temperature. The results indicate that the timing of the emergence of odonate larvae is synchronized with the months preceding the rainy season, when a high density of larvae are recorded, which may reflect a strategy for both the avoidance of the effects of fluctuations in water levels and the exploitation of the relatively abundant food sources found in the terrestrial environment. Temperature also appears to contribute to this synchrony, by either accelerating or delaying the process of larval emergence.
Tropical and subtropical streams: A synthesis Hughes, Robert M.; Pompeu, Paulo Santos; Callisto, Marcos ...
Water Biology and Security,
July 2023, Letnik:
2, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Tropical and sub-tropical streams harbor great biodiversity and are responsible for crucial ecosystem services. Intending to contribute to the understanding of how anthropogenic stressors and ...pressures alter functional or taxonomic diversity in biotic assemblages or processes in these systems, Water Biology and Security published eight papers. The research originated from Cameroon (Central Africa), southeastern Brazil, eastern Amazonia, and eastern China, representing eight river basins: Huai, Sui and Yishusi from east Asia; São Francisco, Doce, Jequitinhonha, and Amazon from South America; and Congo from Africa. The last two are the most biodiverse on the planet. The studied biomes included tropical rainforest and savanna, neotropical savanna and rainforest, neotropical savanna mountains, and subtropical monsoon forest. The response variables included fish assemblages (3 papers), entire macroinvertebrate assemblages or sub-groups (4 papers), and stream physical habitat structure (1 paper).
•Changes in floodplain LULC threaten inland fisheries.•Urban riparian forests help promote aquatic biodiversity.•Aquatic assemblages are driven by multiple environmental drivers.•Reference sites must be regionally representative.•River rehabilitation should consider water pollution, habitat degradation, & hydrological connectivity.
A retirada ou a substituição da vegetação ripária provoca uma alteração no ambiente físico, no fluxo sazonal e na qualidade química da água. Essas modificações podem causar a diminuição da riqueza ...pela extinção local de espécies. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do distúrbio da integridade ambiental sobre a riqueza e composição de espécies de Odonata adultos em córregos com diferentes níveis de conservação, na Bacia do Rio Suiá-Missu, Mato Grosso, Brasil. As modificações nos sistemas aquáticos afetaram a comunidade de Odonata, provavelmente devido às exigências ecofisiológicas e comportamentais relacionadas a adultos e larvas. Anisoptera, que necessitam de ambientes com maior incidência de sol devido ao tamanho do corpo, apresentaram maior riqueza de espécies em ambientes com menor cobertura vegetal. Por outro lado, os Zygoptera geralmente habitam riachos com cobertura vegetal mais densa, e por isso, apresentaram um decréscimo de sua riqueza em locais alterados, devido à maior entrada de luz e/ou variação do calor. Assim, para as duas subordens, as alterações ambientais não precisam ser severas para produzir modificações significativas na composição, indicando que os serviços ecossistêmicos poderiam ser perdidos, mesmo com alterações parciais do meio físico.
Chalcopteryx rutilans Rambur, 1842 (Polythoridae, Odonata) is a species widely distributed in central Amazonia. Due to its sensitivity to environmental changes, it is a bioindicator species used to ...evaluate the environmental conditions of streams in federally protected areas. By sequencing C. rutilans mitogenome, we report the first whole mitogenome from the Polythoridae family and the first from an Odonata species endemic to South America. The entire mitogenome has 15,653 bp and contains 13 protein-coding, 22 tRNA, and two rRNA genes. The nucleotide composition of the mitogenome is 42.7%, T: 25.5%, C: 19.4%, and G: 12.4%. The AT and GC skews of the mitogenome sequence were 0.249 and −0.220, respectively. C. rutilans was recovered as a sister to Pseudolestes mirabilis Kirby, 1900 (Pseudolestidae), demonstrating the absence of mitogenomes of species from multiple families in the current literature. Mitogenome data from this study will provide useful information for further studies on the phylogeny and conservation of Polythoridae.
Abstract Erythrodiplax nataliae sp. nov. (5 males), collected in Vereda wetlands (a unique Neotropical savanna environment) in Mato Grosso, Brazil is described and illustrated. The new species fits ...in Borror’s Juliana Group, and can be distinguished from other species by the combination of the following traits: blue pruinosity on thorax (more dense dorsally); sides of the pterothorax yellowish, darkening dorsally; face ivory, dorsally black with a metallic blue reflection; wings hyaline with a small basal brown spot; vesica spermalis with long lateral lobes, enclosing the median process and median process elongated with a pair of conspicuous rectangular and elongated lateral lobes, with a middle dorso-ventral furrow.
The advance of agricultural frontiers and industrialization in Amazonia has increased natural resource deterioration, resulting in degraded physical habitat structure and reduced local aquatic ...biodiversity. We evaluated the relative sensitivities of the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) and Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) biotic indexes based on EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) versus EPT taxa richness, EPT abundance, and Shannon-Wiener EPT diversity for evaluating anthropogenic impacts on Amazonian streams. We expected that EPT-BMWP and EPT-ASPT would be more sensitive in detecting environmental changes on stream biota than the other measures. We sampled 32 stream sites in eastern Amazonia distributed along an environmental gradient resulting from different land use intensities. All the biological metrics except EPT-ASPT were significantly responsive to anthropogenic pressures; however, EPT taxa richness was slightly more responsive.
•The traditional diversity measures and the EPT-BMWP biotic index were sensitive metrics to capture the variation in environmental conditions in Amazonian streams.•Our results show that the EPT-BMWP can be used as a substitute for richness and diversity indices when the objective is a quick and low-cost assessment of the biological and environmental condition, due to its easy applicability and efficiency, despite using low taxonomic resolution.•Habitat integrity is essential to the structure of aquatic insect communities. The observed relationship between the Habitat Integrity Index and the EPT-BMWP shows this index's efficiency in assessing the biological and environmental condition of Amazonian streams.•Our results show that Amazon streams need more efficient environmental conservation policies.
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