Effects of marginal vegetation removal on Odonata communities/Efeitos da retirada da vegetação marginal sobre a comunidade de Odonata

• Published in: Acta limnológica brasiliensia Vol. 25; no. 1; p. 10
• Main Authors: de Carvalho, Fernando Geraldo, Pinto, Nelson Silva, de Oliveira, José Max Barbosa, Juen, Leandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Botucatu Associação Brasileira de Limnologia 01-01-2013
• ISSN: 0102-6712; 2179-975X

Here we assess the effects of habitat degradation on individuals of the two suborders of Odonata community of Borecaia river sub-basin. More specifically, we tested the hypothesis that Anisoptera richness would be positively affected by removal of vegetation; on the other hand, Zygoptera richness would be adversely affected by virtue of their ecophysiological requirements. The authors selected 10 streams of similar orders, six preserved and four degraded. Streams characterized as preserved had values of Index of Habitat Integrity above 0.70 and continuous forest on both sides with a minimum width of 70 meters. Each site was sampled three times on different days. The effect of vegetation removal on richness was assessed using richness estimated by first order Jackknife. As a general pattern, Anisoptera presents higher richness in an altered site; on the other hand, Zygoptera presents higher richness in a preserved one. This pattern suggests that Odonata needs to be considered at the sub-order level to access the effects of habitat degradation on these insects.