Butterflies of Amazon and Cerrado remnants of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil

Lucas Pereira Martins,Ananda Regina Pereira Martins,Gisele Garcia Azevedo,Mairla Santos Colins,Elias Da Costa Araujo Junior,Gabriela Cristina Fonseca Almeida

doi:10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2017-0335

Lucas Pereira Martins, Ananda Regina Pereira Martins + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2017-0335

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Journal: Biota Neotropica	Publication Date: Aug 28, 2017
Citations: 10	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Universidade Federal do Maranhão

Abstract

Abstract Species inventories are important tools to evaluate biodiversity losses and contribute to the conservation of endangered areas. The Amazon and Cerrado are the largest Brazilian biomes and represent some of the most threatened regions of the country. Due to its location between these biomes, the state of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil, possesses a great variety of habitats and a high local diversity. Nonetheless, few faunistic inventories of diversified groups have been performed in the state. In the specific case of butterflies, a well-known biological indicator, no inventories have been published in the past years. This study aimed to expand the knowledge on the composition of butterflies in Amazon and Cerrado remnants of Maranhão. Butterflies were sampled between 2011 and 2015 across eight municipalities of the state. Captures were made through entomological nets and baited traps. In total, 189 species were sampled, of which 165 were captured in the Amazon, 65 in the Cerrado and 41 in both biomes. We sampled 167 species through entomological nets and 43 through baited traps, representing 12% of similarity in species composition between sampling methods. We estimate that the recorded species represent a small subset of the butterflies from Maranhão. Therefore, long-term researches in poorly studied areas of the state are recommended to identify novel and/or endemic taxa.

Highlights

Species inventories contribute to the conservation of endangered areas by providing relevant data for conservation plans, such as occurrence, richness and diversity (Kremen et al 1993, Santos et al 2008, Santos et al 2016)
Conservation plans are usually restricted to studies focusing vertebrates and higher plants (Santos et al 2008)
Insects are suggested as suitable biological indicators in studies of environmental monitoring and evaluations of natural landscape diversity and integrity

Summary

Introduction

Species inventories contribute to the conservation of endangered areas by providing relevant data for conservation plans, such as occurrence, richness and diversity (Kremen et al 1993, Santos et al 2008, Santos et al 2016). Inventories are important tools to biological evaluations in regions threatened by anthropic disturbances (Kim 1993, Brown Jr 1997, Uehara-Prado et al 2007, Santos et al 2016). Butterflies are considered excellent organisms to indicate the “health state” of ecosystems and an effective “umbrella group” for biodiversity conservation (Uehara-Prado et al 2007, Bonebrake et al 2010, Santos et al 2016). There are about 3,300 species of butterflies in Brazil (Brown Jr 1996, Lewinsohn et al 2005, Francini et al 2011), but few inventories have been performed in large biomes of the country (Santos et al 2008). Relatively little is still known about the biodiversity of butterflies in the country considering its vast area, hindering the development of management and conservation strategies (Santos et al 2008)

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