The Response of Neotropical Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) to Local and Regional Abiotic Factors in Small Streams of the Amazon.

José Max Barbosa Oliveira-Junior,Leandro Juen,Maria Alexandra Teodósio,Karina Dias-Silva

doi:10.3390/insects10120446

José Max Barbosa Oliveira-Junior, Leandro Juen + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10120446

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Abstract

Since the relative role of local and regional abiotic factors on the Odonata diversity in rainforest streams is still poorly understood, we evaluated the effects of these factors on adult Odonata (Insecta) from preserved and altered streams in the Amazonian region. Adult Odonata were sampled in 98 streams in the Eastern Amazon, Pará, Brazil. Six variables were used to measure local environmental factors: habitat integrity index; mean canopy over the channel; and four physical and chemical descriptors of the water. To measure regional environmental factors, six variables were also used: altitude gradient, three bioclimatic variables and two percentage forest variables. In partial redundancy analysis, both abiotic factors (local and regional) were important to explain the variation in the Odonata community. The Odonata community can be influenced by regional and local factors. The relationship between Odonata and the local (e.g., integrity, canopy cover, and physical and chemical descriptors of the water) and regional (e.g., bioclimatic and forest cover variables) environmental variables recorded in this study has important implications for the use of these organisms to monitor small streams of the Eastern Amazon. The scale at which habitat is measured is an important issue in community structuring studies considering the rapid environmental changes. It is of great importance to consider the different scales in studies assessing community structure, once an adequate habitat must meet the ecological needs of all stages of the life of the Odonata.

Highlights

Linking geographic variation of animal communities with variation in local and regional abiotic variables is a common objective in community ecology studies [1,2]
Almost all of the environmental data explained over half of the composition variability for Odonata, Zygoptera, and Anisoptera
The effects of local and regional abiotic factors interact in structuring Odonata communities

Summary

Introduction

Linking geographic variation of animal communities with variation in local and regional abiotic variables is a common objective in community ecology studies [1,2]. Understanding the structure of these associations in the tropical region is extremely important because of the great biodiversity, facing increasingly frequent environmental changes [3,4]. Understanding the primary factors responsible for determining community structure and species distribution has become one of the main. Many papers have addressed the effects of local factors on diversity [7,8] or interactions such as competition, predation, and parasitism (e.g., [9,10]). In recent years, factors that occur in larger scales have been identified determinant for the richness of local communities [11]

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