scholarly journals Insects associated to ephemeral pools in Huentelauquén (29ºS Coquimbo Region, Chile)

2024 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Pizarro-Araya ◽  
F.M. Alfaro ◽  
P. De Los Ríos-Escalante

Abstract In northern central Chile, ephemeral pools constitute shallow isolated water bodies with a favourable habitat for fauna adapted to seasonal changes. Based on the limited knowledge about the fauna—particularly insects—associated to these ecosystems, the objective of this study was to characterize the richness, composition, structure and similarity of the insect communities associated with ephemeral pools in Huentelauquén (29º S, Coquimbo Region, Chile). By using pitfall traps, 10,762 individuals were captured, represented by 7 orders, 27 families, and 51 species. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were the best represented orders, with Neuroptera, Orthoptera and Plecoptera being poorly represented groups. The non-parametric estimators evaluated showed wealth values above those observed for all the studied pools, and their accumulation curves suggest the existence of an incomplete species inventory in the studied community. Additionally, the hierarchical and ordering analysis showed groupings of pools located in the northwest and southeast of Huentelauquén. Preliminarily we found a negative correlation between the area of the pools and the richness (species) and abundance of insects. Additional studies (on other arthropod groups and other seasons of the year) could provide a better understanding of the local processes of extinction and colonization of the species inhabiting these fragile coastal environments.

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 8069-8075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscila Ramírez Aliaga ◽  
Amanda Huerta Fuentes ◽  
Jaime Eduardo Araya Clericus

The aim of this work was to study the effect of post-harvest forestry residue management practices on the epigeal coleopterans diversity and abundance in a 1-yr old Pinus radiata plantation. Approximately 25-yr old P. radiata plantation was available, which was harvested by clear-cutting at the beginning of 2010 in Constitución, central Chile. Three post harvest residue management treatments were installed in a fully randomized design in blocks: 1) a control, where residues were intact left; 2) residue removed (> 2.5 cm diameter); and 3) burned. The coleopterans were sampled in spring and summer, using linear transects with pitfall traps. The abundance and richness, and diversity index of coleopterans were determined. A total of 23 species of 13 families were obtained. Both in the springand summer, the treatment with residues left registered significantly greater abundance and species richness. In the residue management, the practices of intact leaving residue should be considered as the least impacting on diversity and abundance of epigeal coleopterans and is recommended for creating refugee areas to promote diversity of beetles in this area of study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 662-673
Author(s):  
Samantha Ribeiro da Silva ◽  
◽  
Ana Luiza-Andrade ◽  
Suyana Karla Ferreira da Silva ◽  
Tamyris Pegado de Souza e Silva ◽  
...  

IMPORTANCE OF MICROHABITATS IN THE OCCURRENCE OF EPHEMEROPTERA AND TRICHOPTERA SPECIES IN AN ISLAND IN RIO XINGU. This work described the abundance, richness and composition of genera and the functional food groups (GFA) of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera (ET), in different microhabitats of a fluvial island, in Volta Grande of the Xingu River, Brazilian Amazon. Aquatic insects were collected from 30 samples located in puddles situated in the interior of the island (rocks as substrate); and another 30 samples located in the coastal margin of the island (pebble as substrate). The different facets of diversity (abundance, richness and composition of genera and GFA) were compared between puddle samples with rock substrate and those from the coastal region with pebble substrate. In total, 56 individuals were collected, distributed in 15 genera ET. The greatest estimated genera richness and the largest number of individuals occurred in the rocks of the puddle environments. The composition of genera differed between the rocks in the puddle environments and the pebbles in the coastal environments, with the community of the latter being more homogeneous. There were more scraper organisms distributed predominantly in the rocks of the puddle environments and filtering organisms arranged predominantly in the pebbles of the coastal environments. The distribution of scrapers is related to the availability of food, since the island has little vegetation and the light on the rocks is favorable for colonization by biofilm, its main food resource. In the coastal region, the greater distribution of filters is related to the greater number of fine particles suspended in water, its main food resource. The results demonstrate that even in spatially close environments, such as on a small island, differences in the availability of food resources in different microhabitats can influence the distribution in multiple facets of diversity. Thus, even in dynamic environments such as large rivers, maintaining microhabitats is important for aquatic insect communities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Kearns ◽  
Robert D. Stevenson

Dung from large mammalian herbivores provides a concentrated food resource, rich in bacteria, nitrogen, and many forms of carbon that support a diverse community of arthropods. Detrital communities, while essential to nutrient cycling, are poorly studied. From July 2010 to October 2010, we sampled these arthropod assemblages using pitfall traps baited with horse dung at five sites southeast of Boston, MA. A total of 396 samples were collected, resulting in 10,299 arthropod specimens. We found a highly diverse group of arthropods dominated by Coleoptera (n=3696) and Diptera (n=3791) and noted the absence of hymenopterans, a group that was dominant in previous studies on these communities. The community had a high level of evenness (0.93 Shannon evenness) and lacked a dominant species, with no one species obtaining more than 7% relative abundance. Species accumulation curves indicate near maximum diversity was reached for each site and the study as a whole (93% maximum calculated Shannon Diversity). A strong effect of seasonality was also observed on the community, as shown by a strong shift in community at the end of August. The community sampled displayed a high similarity to previous studies, indicating a cosmopolitan distribution as well as an opportunistic community.


1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Condon ◽  
RA Richards ◽  
GD Farquhar

Carbon isotope discrimination (-) has been shown to be negatively correlated with water use efficiency for wheat cultivars grown in the glasshouse. In the field this negative correlation has been confirmed for peanut but it has yet to be confirmed for wheat. Indeed, several field studies on wheat have shown positive (rather than negative) relationships between dry matter production and -. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between - and water use efficiency for wheat grown in a dryland environment characterized by winterlspring-dominant rainfall and terminal drought. Eight genotypes chosen to give a range in - of c. 2.0x10-3 were grown on a red earth at Moombooldool in the Riverina region of New South Wales. Water use and above-ground dry matter (DM) were measured over the course of the season. Water use was partitioned into transpiration and soil evaporation and values of crop water use efficiency (WET) and transpiration efficiency ( WT) calculated. To account for the effect on WT of seasonal changes in the vapour pressure deficit of the air (D), crop coefficients (k) were derived by multiplying WT by the transpiration-weighted average daytime value of D for each genotype. During the preanthesis period, when there was little limitation of soil water supply on growth, there was a positive relationship between DM and -, as observed previously. The relationship between WET and - also had a positive (though non-significant) trend, but the relationship between k and - was negative, i.e. once the effects of variation in the ratio T/ET and seasonal changes in D were accounted for, the negative correlation between water use efficiency and - re-emerged. This apparent conflict between WET and k arose because genotypes with high - values developed their leaf area faster, with two important consequences. First, high - genotypes transpired more of their water supply during the winter when D was low and the exchange of water for CO2 more efficient. Second, transpiration made up a greater proportion of total water use by high - genotypes. The relationship between water use efficiency and - was further complicated as the crops depleted the soil water store after anthesis. During this period DM production tended to be greater in low - genotypes that had conserved soil water in the preanthesis period. However, DM production also remained high for two high - genotypes. The cause of this variation in post-anthesis growth among high - genotypes was not established.


Sociobiology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 457
Author(s):  
Rony Peterson Santos Almeida ◽  
Filipe Viegas Arruda ◽  
Daniel Paiva Silva ◽  
Beatriz Woiski Teixeira Coelho

Little is known about the distribution of organisms in transitional areas, overall because of the lack of understanding regarding each species’ specificity to the diversity of microhabitats found in these areas and effective ways to sample organisms in these regions. Therefore, in this study we aimed to inventory the bee species in a transitional Cerrado-Amazon area in the state of Pará, Brazil, evaluating the effects of three different sampling methods. We used six fragments, sampled in two different seasons with three sampling methods (arboreal pitfalls with urine, scent traps, and pan traps). The specimens were identified and we used accumulation curves to measure the effectiveness of each method. In total, we sampled 68 bee species, where 53 were exclusively from one single sampling method. The pitfall traps were those with reached the highest species richness among all three sampling methods analyzed, followed by the scent traps and pan traps, respectively. Despite the efficiency and generality of the bee groups we found, the pitfall method does not cover specific bee groups as the Euglossini bees, almost exclusively attracted to scent traps. Therefore, we suggest that studies using pitfalls with urine should be performed in other biomes to evaluate the efficiency of this method in future bee surveys.


Author(s):  
Alina Igorevna Ivanova ◽  
Natalia Vladimirovna Kuznetsova

The article highlights the problem of using information on the environmental conditions of water bodies for planning and conducting conservation measures. To understand the processes occurring in aquatic ecosystems, a promising direction appears the study of the composition, structure and spatial-temporal organization of zoobenthos, which is a sensitive indicator of contamination of water bodies with biogenic and toxic substances. There has been carried out the study of the main characteristics of zoobenthic communities of the Volgusha - one of the small rivers of the Moscow region, which flows on the territory of the state natural reserve of regional significance “Volgusha Valley and Paramonovsky Ravine” in the Dmitrov district of the Moscow region. There have been presented the results of a hydrobiological research of the Volgusha River carried out in the open water period in 2017-2018. A physiographic description of the Volgusha basin has been given. The qualitative and quantitative composition of the Volgusha bentofauna has been studied. There were revealed 60 species of zoobenthos belonging to 34 families, 14 orders, 5 classes, 3 types. The most widely there was represented Class Insecta numbering 42 species. There were found nine species of molluscs, four species of leeches, five species of oligochaetas. There have been singled out four groups associated to the substrate in the composition of zoobenthos: featurefile, litereally, pagefile and psammodiini. The spatial heterogeneity of hydrological and hydrochemical conditions throughout the Volgusha River caused by the terrain determines structural differences of zoobenthos, its composition and quantitative development, that is why it can serve as an indicator of water quality in different sectors of the river. There have been revealed evident seasonal changes in the composition of zoobenthos of the Volgusha River during the year and marked out zones of maximal anthropogenic interference.


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