Dataset Information

New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forests.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In this contribution we present detailed distribution and abundance data for arthropod species identified during the BALA - Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of the Azores (1999-2004) and BALA2 projects (2010-2011) from 18 native forest fragments in seven of the nine Azorean islands (all excluding Graciosa and Corvo islands, which have no native forest left).

New information

Of the total 286 species identified, 81% were captured between 1999 and 2000, a period during which only 39% of all the samples were collected. On average, arthropod richness for each island increased by 10% during the time frame of these projects. The classes Arachnida, Chilopoda and Diplopoda represent the most remarkable cases of new island records, with more than 30% of the records being novelties. This study stresses the need to expand the approaches applied in these projects to other habitats in the Azores, and more importantly to other less surveyed taxonomic groups (e.g. Diptera and Hymenoptera). These steps are fundamental for getting a more accurate assessment of biodiversity in the archipelago.

SUBMITTER: Borges PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5267528 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forests.

Borges Paulo A V PA Gaspar Clara C Crespo Luís Carlos Fonseca LC Rigal François F Cardoso Pedro P Pereira Fernando F Pereira Fernando F Rego Carla C Amorim Isabel R IR Melo Catarina C Aguiar Carlos C André Genage G Mendonça Enésima P EP Ribeiro Sérvio S Hortal Joaquín J Santos Ana M C AM Barcelos Luís L Enghoff Henrik H Mahnert Volker V Pita Margarida T MT Ribes Jordi J Baz Arturo A Sousa António B AB Vieira Virgílio V Wunderlich Jörg J Parmakelis Aristeidis A Whittaker Robert J RJ Quartau José Alberto JA Serrano Artur R M AR Triantis Kostas A KA

Biodiversity data journal 20161222 4

<h4>Background</h4>In this contribution we present detailed distribution and abundance data for arthropod species identified during the BALA - <b><i>B</i></b><i>iodiversity of <b>A</b>rthropods from the <b>L</b>aurisilva of the <b>A</b>zores</i> (1999-2004) and BALA2 projects (2010-2011) from 18 native forest fragments in seven of the nine Azorean islands (all excluding Graciosa and Corvo islands, which have no native forest left).<h4>New information</h4>Of the total 286 species identified, 81% ...[more]

PMID: 28174509

Similar Datasets

Project description:We investigated the conservation concern of Azorean forest fragments and the entire Terceira Island surface using arthropod species vulnerability as defined by the Kattan index, which is based on species rarity. Species rarity was evaluated according to geographical distribution (endemic vs. non endemic species), habitat specialization (distribution across biotopes) and population size (individuals collected in standardized samples). Geographical rarity was considered at 'global' scale (species endemic to the Azorean islands) and 'regional' scale (single island endemics). Measures of species vulnerability were combined into two indices of conservation concern for each forest fragment: (1) the Biodiversity Conservation Concern index, BCC, which reflects the average rarity score of the species present in a site, and (2) one proposed here and termed Biodiversity Conservation Weight, BCW, which reflects the sum of rarity scores of the same species assemblage. BCW was preferable to prioritise the areas with highest number of vulnerable species, whereas BCC helped the identification of areas with few, but highly threatened species due to a combination of different types of rarity.A novel approach is introduced in which BCC and BCW indices were also adapted to deal with probabilities of occurrence instead of presence/absence data. The new probabilistic indices, termed pBCC and pBCW, were applied to Terceira Island for which we modelled species distributions to reconstruct species occurrence with different degree of probability also in areas from which data were not available. The application of the probabilistic indices revealed that some island sectors occupied by secondary vegetation, and hence not included in the current set of protected areas, may in fact host some rare species. This result suggests that protecting marginal non-natural areas which are however reservoirs of vulnerable species may also be important, especially when areas with well preserved primary habitats are scarce.

Project description:The arthropod communities are influenced by both local conditions and features of the surrounding landscape. Landscape complexity and stand factors may both influence arthropod communities in poplar forests, but the multiscale effects of these factors on poplar defoliators and natural enemies are still poorly understood. We collected poplar arthropods at 30 sampling sites within five forest landscapes in Xinjiang, China, and assessed whether landscape complexity and stand factors influence species abundance and diversity of poplar arthropods. Landscape complexity was quantified by several independent metrics of landscape composition, configuration, and connectivity at three spatial scales. We also determined the most powerful explanatory variables and the scale effect of each arthropod. Results found that landscape complexity and stand factors had different effects on different poplar arthropod communities. Landscape complexity promoted natural enemies at different spatial scales, but it inhibited the population of poplar defoliators at the scale of 200 m. Specifically, the abundance and diversity of all defoliators decreased with increasing proportion of nonhost plants. Landscape diversity only had a negative effect on defoliator abundance. The shape complexity of habitat patches increased the abundance of carabid beetles but reduced the abundance of green leafhoppers and migratory locusts. The abundance and diversity of predators increased with increasing structural connectivity of forest landscape. Additionally, both the abundance and diversity of all defoliators were positively correlated with the average height of herbaceous plants. Diversity of all defoliators increased with increasing size of host trees. The distance from sampling site to the nearest village positively influenced the abundance and diversity of all predators. Arthropod abundance and diversity in poplar forests were driven by stand factors and landscape complexity. Therefore, maintaining complex shape and structural connectivity of habitat patches and keeping poplar stands away from the village are crucial for management of forest landscape to enhance natural enemies. And in order to reduce the abundance of defoliators in poplar forest, the diversity of surrounding habitat types should be promoted within 200 m radii.

Dataset Information

New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forests.

Background

New information

Publications

New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forests.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets