Abstract
Abstract: Aim This paper aims to make inferences about the quality of watercourses, and its conservation, through the habitat suitability model of Campylocia burmeisteri. Methods The modelling demanded twenty-five occurrence records, twelve as training data and thirteen as test data. The study area consisted of a 300 kilometers buffer zone applied over the occurrence records. We used a set of twenty-two environmental layers as ambient data, as follows: 19 bioclimatic variables available on Worldclim; altitude from Worldclim; slope, obtained through geoprocessing in ArcGis v10.3 with altitude variable; and drainage density provide by Ambdata. These layers were transformed by the use of fuzzy logic to represent a continuous variation, and thus the most significant data was select after a PCA. To indicated to new surveys areas, we define locations with significant occurrence probability and distant from occurrence points. And, lastly, we observed the environmental integrity to analyze the potential watercourse quality, by using satellite images, in a buffer zone of ten kilometers from Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve. Results The chosen regions with the highest occurrence probability, which account for 9 new survey areas, are concentrated in interfluvial areas and near conservation units. We performed an analysis focused on the region of the Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve and delimited seven areas that presented good habitat suitability. The region was observed using satellite images, and five of the areas presented high ecological integrity. Two areas showed impacts from mining activity. Conclusions The distribution pattern corroborates the features of the species as a bioindicator of good water quality. It is estimated that this methodology can be adapted and applied to other bioindicators. The areas where headwaters and low-order tributaries are present must be conserved, because they are fundamental for maintaining the quality within the respective watershed.
Highlights
With the disclosure and improvement of the ecological niche modelling and the bioindication method with aquatic insects, researches that use these techniques to infer information about the watercourses’ quality have been more frequent (Lock & Goethals, 2013; Holguin-Gonzalez et al, 2013)
The areas where headwaters and low-order tributaries are present must be conserved, because they are fundamental for maintaining the quality within the respective watershed
This work aims to make a spatial analysis of habitat suitability model for Campylocia burmeisteri, which can indicate new survey areas to increase the knowledge about this species
Summary
With the disclosure and improvement of the ecological niche modelling and the bioindication method with aquatic insects, researches that use these techniques to infer information about the watercourses’ quality have been more frequent (Lock & Goethals, 2013; Holguin-Gonzalez et al, 2013). Lock & Goethals (2013), encouraged by conservation politics, used the order Ephemeroptera in habitat suitability models to evaluate the water quality in Flanders (Belgium), mostly its meaning to pollution caused by anthropic impacts. The order Ephemeroptera consists of aquatic insects, which nymphs inhabit all freshwater environments, even that some of them live in brackish waters (Domínguez et al, 2006). Organisms from this order play an important role as a source of food in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in both nymph and adult forms (Grant, 2001)
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