Diversity of the families of Coleoptera captured with pitfall traps in five different environments in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

Abstract

The conservationist community is giving special attention to epigean insects due to their importance in the preservation of terrestrial habitats. This work analysed the diversity, richness, abundance and similarity at the soil surface of Coleoptera composition among five environments: native forest, native grassland, Pinus elliottii plantation, Eucalyptus saligna plantation and degraded area by soil use in southern Brazil, from October 2004 to October 2005. A total of 1,812 individuals were collected, attributed to 45 morph-species and 14 families. The higher richness and abundance were observed in native forest (31 species and 782 individuals) and the lower richness and abundance in degraded area (14 species, 86 individuals). Scarabaeidae was the richest family captured, with nine morph-species, and the most frequent family was Nitidulidae (1,113 individuals). According to the Shannon-Wiener index, the degraded area had smaller diversity in relation to the native forest, E. saligna and Pinus elliottii plantations. No difference in diversity between evaluated areas was found for the Simpson diversity index. The most dominant site was the degraded. The correlation between the total number of morph-species captured was not different to the degraded area and the P. elliottii monoculture (r = 0.47) and the correlation between the total individuals number was not significant between native forest and native grassland (r = 0.46) and between degraded areas and the other sites. According to the Jaccard Similarity Index, the greatest similarity for the organism composition occurred between P. elliottii plantation and E. saligna plantation, presenting 74% of overlap.

Soil Surface‐Active Fauna in Degraded and Restored Lands of Northeast Brazil

“…The increase in the densities of beetles, mainly Scarabaeidae, in restored lands compared with degraded land may also correspond to an overall resource increase as they live on carrion, dead and living plant material, and are generally linked to higher organic matter availability (Kim, 1993;Fagundes et al, 2011).…”

Terrestrial Arthropods in the Initial Restoration Stages of Anthracite Coal Mine Spoil Heaps in Northwestern Spain: Potential Usefulness of Higher Taxa as Restoration Indicators

“…The Coleoptera proved to have value as a bioindicator at a specific level (Taboada, ; Watts et al ., ; Fagundes et al ., ); however, the results show that the families of Coleoptera could be used as surrogates of species in degraded/restored soils because Coleoptera was the only order that was relatively abundant in the spoils and that showed significant differences throughout the restoration process. Additionally, many families are relatively highly mobile and have well‐known biological and ecological adaptations that were useful in detecting alterations produced by adding large amounts of organic matter of animal origin.…”

Unraveling the diversity, phylogeny, and ecological role of cryptic Coleopteran species of Vadodara district: a first comparative approach from India

“…Insects comprise the most diverse and successful group of multicellular organisms on the planet, and they contribute significantly to vital ecological functions such as pollination, pest control, decomposition, and maintenance of wildlife species (Losey and Vaughan, 2006). The composition of this group reflects the dynamicity of the ecosystem (Fagundes et al 2011) and is fundamental in the investigating of the landscape structure. An approximation of 350,000 species of beetles that is identified which comprise about 40% of all insects and 30% of all animals out of which 15,088 are reported from India (Choate, 2001; Kazmi and Ramamurthy, 2004).…”