Assessing the response of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) to a tropical urbanization gradient

Abstract

Understanding species responses to urbanization is important to realize their specific conservation needs. Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) are freshwater insects perceived as good ecological indicators. To investigate responses of tropical odonates to an urbanization gradient, we sampled adult odonates along an urbanization gradient at six sites along the Mula River across Pune City, Maharashtra, India. For species–habitat analysis, we first performed a variable reduction using principal component analysis. we analyzed species–habitat data using redundancy analysis and canonical correspondence analysis. We documented 15 odonates across 6 sites. Our statistical analyses on patterns of odonate assemblages across sites and environmental variables did not return significant results. However, we detected site-exclusivity in a few species based on occurrence data and identified urban sensitive, urban tolerant and generalist species. We found that the odonate diversity was highest at a moderately urbanized site. We believe that increase in diversity due to moderate amounts of disturbance can be explained by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. Based on our data, we suggest that for the conservation of odonates in the urban context, anthropogenic disturbance needs to be regulated. Here, we demonstrate that understanding species–habitat associations is the first step towards understanding their ecological and conservation requirements. To conserve odonates and rivers in metropolitan cities like Pune, restoring original river-side habitat and reducing the disturbance at highly urbanized sites to at least intermediate levels needs to be done on an urgent basis.

Records of Dragonflies & Damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) from Gondia district, Maharashtra, India

“…Three abundant species were found which can be called as generalists across the study region, namely, I. rapax, C. servilia, and D. trivialis. Jere et al (2020) reported C. servilia as a generalist and I. rapax as an urban specialist. Our results regarding generalists are partially in line with Jere et al (2020).…”

“…Jere et al (2020) reported C. servilia as a generalist and I. rapax as an urban specialist. Our results regarding generalists are partially in line with Jere et al (2020). During the survey, a Lestes species similar to L. malabaricus was recorded.…”

“…Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) are freshwater insects that are often used as indicator taxa in environmental studies (Kutcher & Bried, 2014;Koparde, 2016;Gómez-Tolosa et al, 2021). Data on odonate richness and abundance can be useful in understanding habitat health (Jere et al, 2020) and changes in weather (Basel et al, 2021). As per an estimate of 2015, the State of Maharashtra harbours around 134 odonates (Tiple & Koparde, 2015).…”

Genetic variation and population structure of a widely distributed damselfly (Ischnura senegalensis)

“…In those habitats, I. senegalensis plays a vital role in rice pest control (Chakraborty et al, 2016; Pavithran, Chitra, and Ramanathan, 2020) and mosquito control (Choo et al, 2021). However, anthropogenic disturbance, like pesticide application in rice fields, negatively affects diversity of arthropods including odonates (Jere et al, 2020; Sugita et al, 2018) and thus might shape the genetic structure of populations (Sato et al, 2008; Vickruck & Richards, 2017). Growing evidence shows that anthropogenic landscapes could strongly reduce population exchange via habitat fragmentation (Cayuela et al, 2020).…”

From the Forest to the City: the Arrival of Dragonflies and Damselflies to the Urban Jungle

“…individuals are the most vulnerable ones in the face of environmental disturbances Possibly, building up a large body requires long developmental periods, more food and, consequently, more risks(Suhonen et al, 2022).Different types of stressors in uence different species inside an order (e.g Luke et al, 2017;Seidu et al, 2018;Huikkonen et al, 2019;Jere et al, 2020)…”