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Understanding the effects of human disturbance on scorpion diversity in Brazilian tropical forests
Journal of Insect Conservation ( IF 1.9 ) Pub Date : 2021-01-04 , DOI: 10.1007/s10841-020-00292-6
André F. A. Lira , Stênio I. A. Foerster , Renato P. Salomão , Tiago J. Porto , Cleide M. R. Albuquerque , Geraldo J. B. Moura

Abstract

The effects of land use conversion on the maintenance of biodiversity remains a major issue in conservation biology. With this as context, recent studies have successfully evaluated the potential of scorpions as bio-indicators of human disturbance. Here, we explored this assumption to identify the effects of landscape structure on scorpion assemblages distributed in two tropical environments in Brazil, with different levels of human disturbance. Scorpions were collected from 28 sampling localities across the Atlantic Forest (n = 12) and Caatinga dry forest (n = 16), resulting in 3,781 specimens from 13 species, 5 genera, and 2 families. We found that scorpion species composition and abundance were more sensitive to changes in landscape configuration than was species richness. Additionally, scorpion assemblage responses were quite different between the two environments. From this observation we highlighted three main findings: (i) the Atlantic Forest assemblage possesses an abundance-dependent response to landscape; (ii) variation in species composition of Atlantic Forest and Caatinga were affected by landscape diversity and presence of croplands, respectively; (iii) the Atlantic Forest is inhabited by assemblages that are more sensitive to landscape changes than that is Caatinga.

Implications for insect conservation

We argue that a site-dependent process may explain the effects of human activities on scorpion assemblages at local and regional scale. Moreover, we provide substantial information for decision-makers to support their conservation strategies for neglected ecosystems, such as those present in Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest.



中文翻译:

了解人为干扰对巴西热带森林中蝎子多样性的影响

摘要

土地用途转化对维持生物多样性的影响仍然是保护生物学的主要问题。以此为背景,最近的研究成功地评估了蝎子作为人类干扰生物指标的潜力。在这里,我们探索了这种假设,以识别景观结构对分布在巴西两个热带环境中且人类干扰程度不同的蝎子组合的影响。从横跨大西洋森林(n = 12)和卡廷加干旱森林(n = 16)的28个采样点收集了蝎子,得到了来自13个物种,5个属和2个科的3,781个标本。我们发现蝎子的物种组成和丰度比物种丰富度对景观配置的变化更敏感。另外,在两种环境之间,蝎子的组合反应是完全不同的。从这一观察中,我们强调了三个主要发现:(i)大西洋森林组合对景观具有丰富的依赖性;(ii)大西洋森林和卡廷加的物种组成变化分别受景观多样性和耕地的存在影响;(iii)比起Caatinga,大西洋林地的居民对景观的变化更为敏感。

对昆虫保护的意义

我们认为,依赖站点的过程可以解释人类活动对本地和区域规模的蝎子组合的影响。此外,我们为决策者提供了大量信息,以支持他们针对被忽视的生态系统(例如,卡廷加和大西洋森林中的生态系统)的保护策略。

更新日期:2021-01-05
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