Terrestrial isopod diversity in the subtropical neotropics: Itapuã State Park, southern Brazil

Abstract

We analysed species abundance and composition during one year of sampling at Itapuã State Park, a conservation unit in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Samples were collected monthly from May 2003 to April 2004 along a 4 km forest trail divided in three transects along the slopes of a small hill. Terrestrial isopods were hand searched by three people for 40 minutes at two sampling sites along each transect, summing 240 minutes of sampling effort per transect per month. Six species distributed in six families were found. The collector curve stabilised when half the samples were taken, demonstrating sampling sufficiency: analytical estimates did not predict more species to be found in the trail. Atlantoscia floridana (van Name, 1940) was dominant in all transects. Abundance varied along the year with a summer and a winter peak, but peaks were not consistent among transects. The first part of the trail, used for ecotourism, was less diverse, had less species (4 as compared to 6 in the other transects), and was thus also less similar in composition.

Diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of Ptychoglossus bicolor (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) in an organic coffee shade plantation in Colombia

“…Terrestrial isopods are soil-dwelling arthropods often showing sensitiveness to soil physical-chemical properties and limited dispersal capabilities, and thus may constitute good indicators of soil properties (Paoletti & Hassall, 1999), especially on a local scale perspective (Almerão et al, 2006). The diet of terrestrial isopods is mostly decaying organic materials such as leaf-litter, decayed wood (rooting logs), and fungi and bacteria mats (Paoletti & Hassal, 1999).…”

Terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) in termite nests (Blattodea: Termitidae) in a cocoa plantation in Brazil

“…floridana occurs in coastal areas from Florida to Uruguay (Leistikow 2001) in nests of the ants Camponotus rufipes Fabricius, 1775 and Odontomachus affinis Guerin-Meneville, 1844(Lemos de Castro 1985. It is the most frequent and abundant in diversity studies of Oniscidea conducted in southern Brazil , Lopes et al 2005, Almerão et al 2006, Quadros & Araujo 2008 and can reach population densities of up to 1,040 individuals per m…”

Balloniscus glaber (Crustacea, Isopoda, Balloniscidae), a habitat specialist species in a disturbed area of Brazil

“…Currently, few reports have addressed anthropogenic effects and terrestrial isopods' response behaviors in the Neotropics (Almerão et al, 2006;Magrini et al, 2011). The results of Almerão et al (2006) showed that the highest abundance of Balloniscus glaber Araujo & Zardo, 1995 in Parque Estadual de Itapuã (PEI), referred as a nonurban area, in southern Brazil, occurred along a trail closed to visitors.…”

“…The results of Almerão et al (2006) showed that the highest abundance of Balloniscus glaber Araujo & Zardo, 1995 in Parque Estadual de Itapuã (PEI), referred as a nonurban area, in southern Brazil, occurred along a trail closed to visitors. Later, Quadros et al (2009), studying the same species from the same area, concluded that B. glaber is a habitat specialist species that shows K-selected traits.…”