Habitat integrity drives Odonata diversity in Eucalyptus -dominated landscape
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Habitat integrity drives Odonata diversity in Eucalyptus-dominated landscape Lucas Rodrigues Borges & Marcela Silva Barbosa & Marco Antônio Alves Carneiro & Jean Carlos Santos
Received: 25 June 2020 / Accepted: 10 November 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Silviculture can be considered a sustainable alternative to the extraction of wood from natural forests in Brazil. However, the high demand for wood products has decreased the area of natural Cerrado due to land transformation for forestry activities. This transformation could lead to the loss of species, including insects that cannot tolerate the new environment dominated by exotic plant species. This study aims to evaluate whether the presence of an extensive Eucalyptus silviculture in the Brazilian Cerrado decreases the integrity of nearby riparian environments and, consequently, decreases odonate diversity. Thirteen ponds were selected in patches of Cerrado embedded within a matrix of Eucalyptus silviculture in order to assess habitat integrity of ponds and their riparian zones and collect adult odonates. The physical integrity of the study sites was measured using a Habitat Integrity Index (HII) designed to determine the degree of conservation of aquatic environments. The HII of the study sites varied between 0.44 L. R. Borges : M. S. Barbosa Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil M. A. A. Carneiro Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil J. C. Santos (*) Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Campus São Cristóvão, Av. Marechal Rondon, s/n, Bairro Jardim Rosa Elze, São Cristóvão, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil e-mail: [email protected]
and 0.80, indicating differences in the degree of conservation. Therefore, a positive relationship was found between odonate richness and abundance and HII, and between the abundance of zygopterans and anisopterans and HII. These findings may be due to the fact that these insects are adapted to the natural resources maintained at the most conserved habitats, and which were lost in degraded riparian zones, such as the presence of aquatic vegetation and a diversity of organic debris on pond banks. We conclude that the conversion of natural areas to Eucalyptus silviculture can alter the integrity of nearby riparian zones and, consequently, odonate diversity.
Keywords Cerrado . Damselflies . Dragonflies . Forestry . Riparian zone . Silviculture
Introduction Forestry activities are expanding rapidly in Brazil (Gonçalves et al. 2008). Forestry has arisen as a sustainable alternative to the extraction of natural forest wood. The wood provided from planted forests supplies the production of mainly cellulose and paper, but also, for roundwood and charcoal-fired steel industry (IBA 2019; Mendes 2016). However, the high demand for these products has turned attention towards natural areas that could be converted into silviculture (Gonçalves et al. 2008). In 2018, more than 7.83 million of hectar
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