Abstract
The Amazonian rainforest is a unique ecosystem that comprises habitat for thousands of animal species. Over the last decades, the ever-increasing human population has caused forest conversion to agricultural land with concomitant high biodiversity losses, mainly near a number of fast-growing cities in the Peruvian Amazon. In this research, we evaluated insect species richness and diversity in five ecosystems: natural forests, multistrata agroforests, cocoa agroforests, annual cropping monoculture and degraded grasslands. We determined the relationship between land use intensity and insect diversity changes. Collected insects were taxonomically determined to morphospecies and data evaluated using standardized biodiversity indices. The highest species richness and abundance were found in natural forests, followed by agroforestry systems. Conversely, monocultures and degraded grasslands were found to be biodiversity-poor ecosystems. Diversity indices were relatively high for all ecosystems assessed with decreasing values along the disturbance gradient. An increase in land use disturbance causes not only insect diversity decreases but also complete changes in species composition. As agroforests, especially those with cocoa, currently cover many hectares of tropical land and show a species composition similar to natural forest sites, we can consider them as biodiversity reservoirs for some of the rainforest insect species.
Highlights
The Amazon rainforest is considered a biodiversity hotspot [1]
Highestabundance abundance was found in the natural forest, analyzed individuals
Our study presents a detailed analysis of insect biodiversity in several landuse systems in the Ucayali region, Peruvian Amazon
Summary
The Amazon rainforest is considered a biodiversity hotspot [1]. Despite all efforts to conserve and protect this critically important and highly endangered ecosystem, the rainforests still continue to steadily disappear. Over the past 50 years, an estimated 32% of the Amazon rainforest has been converted to man-made systems and a further loss of 10%–15% has been projected by 2050 [2]. Conversion of natural ecosystems is a major cause of biodiversity loss and threatens ecosystem. Forests 2016, 7, 82 functions and livelihoods of indigenous people [3]. Diversified agricultural systems, such as agroforestry systems, are possibly able to conserve rainforest diversity. During the last three decades, the Peruvian Amazon ecosystem has been profoundly modified
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