<b>Trends in the scientific production on aquatic microhabitats phytotelmata: a scientometric study

Abstract

We performed a scientometry to validate trends in the scientific production on phytotelmata and the importance of these microenvironments in the maintenance of biodiversity. We searched for articles in the Web of Science and looked at publications from 1987 to 2016. We collected years of publication, surveyed organisms, countries where the surveys took place, plants that accumulate phytotelmata, scientific journals that publish more about the topic and their respective IFs (Impact Factor) and the keywords of each article. We built a heatmap using the most frequent keywords in the studies, to investigate the topics studied over the years. We have found 293 publications, increasing over the years. Insects, anurans and crustaceans were the most studied organisms. The most studied plant families were Bromeliaceae, Poaceae and Apiaceae. The published studies analized were carried out mainly in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. The most published journals on the subject are: Zootaxa, Hydrobiologia, Biotropica and Journal of Natural History. Some main global concerns such as climate change, habitat fragmentation has gained the attention of the phytotelmata studies in the recent years. The results contribute to the knowledge about phytotelmata accumulated biodiversity and research trends.

Effects of warming on the structure of aquatic communities in tropical bromeliad microecosystems

“…Their small size means they can be easily manipulated and controlled such as laboratory microcosms but contain the complexity and biologically realistic variation found in the natural aquatic ecosystems (Srivastava et al, 2004 ). In particular, food webs from bromeliad phytotelmata have been used to investigate global environmental changes, including the impacts of climate change, nutrient enrichment, drought, and other stressors on community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning (Antiqueirae, Petchey, Piccin, et al, 2018 ; Busse et al, 2018 ; Kratina et al, 2017 ; Petermann, Kratina, et al, 2015 ; Rezende et al, 2021 ; Romero et al, 2020 ; Srivastava et al, 2020 ; Teixeira et al, 2018 ). Tank bromeliads also provision a suite of important ecosystem functions and services, such as supporting local biodiversity, regulating the water dynamics and spread of disease, capturing greenhouse gasses, and cycling of nutrients (Ladino et al, 2019 ).…”

Copepods and ostracods associated with bromeliads in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

“…Research interest in phytotelmata micro-environments has recently increased because such environments are considered living laboratories which enable study of different natural processes such as colonization, dispersal, predator-prey interaction and competition [ 9 ]. Studies of phytotelmata fauna, including tree cavities, puddles in stumps of bamboo and similar grasses, bromeliad tanks, pitcher plants, water filled coconut husks, and Heliconia flowers are typically dominated by larval stages of insects, yet several groups of invertebrates can also be found [ 10 , 11 ].…”