The effect of fragmentation on phlebotomine communities (Diptera: Psychodidae) in areas of ombrophilous forest in São Luís, state of Maranhão, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether an edge effect could be observed in the structure and composition of phlebotomine assemblages in ive forest fragments on São Luís Island. The study also investigated whether there were any differences in species along the forest edge-to-interior gradient and in species richness and abundance between the fragments studied. To capture the insects a transect was de ined in each fragment, and eight light traps were set up at 15 m intervals from the edge. Phlebotomines were found in all fragments, and a total of 2972 specimens (1188 males and 1784 females) belonging to 24 species were collected. Of these, the most abundant was Lutzomyia antunesi (Coutinho), followed by Brumptomyia avellari (Costa Lima), L. infraspinosa (Mangabeira), L. laviscutellata (Mangabeira), L. claustrei

Spatial and temporal variation in pollinator community structure relative to a woodland-almond plantation edge

“…Pollinators are not only highly mobile, but also are sensitive to changes in habitat that restrict the food or structural resources they need (Kremen et al ., ; Kohler et al ., ). Therefore, edge responses for these species can be highly‐variable, related to contextual attributes of the studied habitat (Jauker et al ., ; Azevedo et al ., ; Coudrain et al ., ; Macfadyen & Muller, ) or specific to each taxa, with flies, bees and wasps all showing differing responses within a single ecological context (Klein et al ., ; Jauker et al ., ; Rader et al ., ; Batista Matos et al ., ). We identified distinct community zones (i.e.…”

The impact of industrial activities on vector-borne disease transmission

“…Equally, if some hosts are more efficient reservoirs of disease than others, habitat fragmentation leading to changes in local species diversity could allow for increases or decreases in the chance of vectors becoming infected, as has been described for Lyme disease spirochete infection of ticks: nymphal infection prevalence is dramatically reduced by the presence of hosts of low reservoir competence (Schmidt and Ostfeld, 2001). In addition to changing the availability of host species, activities that create forest fringe areas can provide favourable breeding conditions (moist soil areas) for sand fly vectors of leishmaniasis (Azevedo et al, 2011;Feliciangeli, 2004) and various species in the leucosphyrus group of malaria vectors that have a strong proclivity for forested and forest-fringe environments (Sallum et al, 2005). In a frontier settlement of Rorainópolis, in the northern Brazilian Amazon, deforestation has created the unique forest fringe ecosystems that have become hotspots for larvae.…”

Effects of forest degradation on the sand fly communities of northeast Brazil

“…In the state of Maranhão, there is a great diversity and distribution of sand flies (Rebêlo et al 2010), but most species occur in the Amazon biome forest. In this environment 72 species are found, corresponding to 79.1% of the fauna (Rebêlo et al 2001a, 2001b, Marinho et al 2008, Azevedo et al 2011). In areas where vegetation is more open with the presence of cerrado and a semi‐humid climate, the diversity is less, but even so, 45 species have been found, representing 49.5% of the state fauna (Rebêlo et al 2010, Martins et al 2011, Silva et al 2015).…”