Higher-Taxon and Cross-Taxon Surrogates for Odonate Biodiversity in Brazil

Abstract

Odonate distributional patterns have recently become a focus of a global biodiversity evaluation, but it may present large gaps in biogeographical information, especially in tropical areas, which suggests the need of a surrogate approach for setting conservation priorities. Here we assemble available information of distribution of Brazilian odonate species and try to evaluate two different surrogate possibilities: i) a higher-taxon approach based on genera richness, and ii) a cross-taxa approach using the larger-sized Libellulidae species. The species richness distribution pattern shows a bias toward areas near research centers or with easy accessibility. Only 29% of the territory had any distributional information about odonates. A higher association of genera richness and species richness was observed and remained high even after controlling for differences in sampling effort. Libellulidae species richness was also a good surrogate, despite the low cover of available information of Brazilian territory. Our results support the use of higher-taxa over other approaches but highlight the importance of intensify sampling especially at the Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazonian biomes.

Modeling the distribution of a rare Amazonian odonate in relation to future deforestation

“…All other species have a distribution similar to the occurrence points of D. nigra, in Central Amazon. The overlap of these species may simply be a consequence of the higher sampling effort in Central Amazon areas near Manaus and may not reveal their real distributions (Vianna and De Marco 2012). Thus, we were unable to sort out these different hypotheses, and we suggest that these isolated suitable regions are important areas for inventories to find other populations of D. nigra and to test for the existence of those other ecologically similar-and possibly similarly threatened-species.…”

Amazonian species within the Cerrado savanna: new records and potential distribution for Aglae caerulea (Apidae: Euglossini)

“…However, they have been usually neglected in conservation actions (Diniz-Filho et al 2010a;Cardoso et al 2011). Even insect groups with extensive taxonomic, biological, and ecological data available (e.g., ants, bees, odonates, and butterflies) lack consistent biogeographic data (Diniz-Filho et al 2010a;Vianna and De Marco Jr 2012). Despite such problems, Diniz-Filho et al (2010a) provided an optimistic view on how to use theoretical approaches and modern methods to conserve insects, such as ecological niche models (ENM).…”

Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) from Mananciais da Serra, a Tropical-Araucaria Forest ecotonal remnant in the southern Atlantic Forest, state of Paraná, Brazil

“…Most insect taxa are poorly known groups (Novacek andCleland 2001, Troudet et al 2017) and are at a higher risk of extinction (Clausnitzer et al 2009). Deficiencies in the distributional data and sampling bias have been detailed for Odonata in South America (see von Ellenrieder 2009, Vianna and De Marco 2012), and even in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, widely known as one of the most studied areas in South America, there are poorly sampled sites (cf. Kompier 2018, Pinto 2019 and references therein).…”