Taxonomic Distinctness of the subterranean fauna from Peruaçu Caves National Park, state of Minas Gerais, eastern Brazil

Abstract

Limiting factors of subterranean environments, high relative air humidity and, especially, permanent darkness, represent ecological filters for organisms and biodiversity patterns of surface and subterranean communities display wide disparities. Subterranean diversity and singularity are, thus, better expressed when the common presence of rare and endemic species are considered. Our study aimed to describe the diversity of the cave fauna from 14 caves from Peruaçu Caves National Park (PCNP), eastern Brazil. We analyzed the regional diversity using the index that includes the average taxonomic distinction (TD - Δ +, AvTD). We recorded 1,674 individuals belonging to 10 Classes and 237 morphotypes, 11 troglobitic and two troglomorphic and possible troglobites. Greatest species abundance (N=330) and richness (s=76) were recorded at Lapa do Cipó cave, followed by Gruta Olhos d’Água (N=330, s=71), which shows the highest TD value (Δ + = 90.18) in relation to the others, including the richest Lapa do Cipó (Δ + = 85.24), consequence of the several taxonomic units with large number of species. The below-expected values of TD (Δ + = 87.70) may indicate anthropic impacts on these communities. Our results demonstrate that Gruta Olhos d’ Água and Lapa do Cipó caves are the most important sites for the occurrence of endemic and troglobitic species and may be part of a complex system that should be considered for a more efficient conservation planning.

New records of cave-inhabiting Gerromorpha (Insecta, Hemiptera, Heteroptera) from Brazil

“…Brachymetra albinervus is the most widespread species of its genus, being recorded from Guatemala to Paraguay and southeastern Brazil (Frauenfeld 1867;Harris 1930, 1942). Its representatives are usually collected in partially shaded streams with rock, gravel, or sand at the bottom, and had only been recorded from caves once (Monte and Bichuette 2020). The record presented here fills a distributional gap at the northern edge of the Paraguay Basin in Mato Grosso.…”

“…The aim of the present study is to provide new information on the geographic distribution of Gerromorpha in Brazilian caves, which only recently revealed to house a remarkable diversity of semiaquatic bugs (Moreira and Campos 2012;Taylor and Ferreira 2012;Rodrigues et al 2014;Cordeiro and Moreira 2015;Floriano and Moreira 2015;Moreira 2016a, 2016b;Polhemus and Ferreira 2018;Rodrigues and Álvarez-Arango 2019;Monte and Bichuette 2020).…”

A new species of Neocarus (Opilioacaridae) from a Brazilian ferruginous geosystem and notes on natural history

“…Brazil presents the greatest diversity known to date, with 11 species and four genera, of which Brasilacarus and Amazonacarus are endemic to the country, while Neocarus and Caribeacarus also occur in other regions (van der Hammen 1969;Vázquez and Klompen 2009;Bernardi et al 2013b, c;Vázquez et al 2015;Araújo et al 2018a;Bernardi and Borges-Filho 2018;Vázquez et al 2020). Nonetheless, the number of known species is likely to represent only a small fraction of the group's diversity, as new records of undescribed Opilioacarida have been reported (Bernardi and Borges-Filho 2018;Monte and Bichuette 2020).…”