The Potential Uses of Sarcosaprophagous Flesh Flies and Blowflies for the Evaluation of the Regeneration and Conservation of Forest Clearings: A Case Study in the Amazon Forest

Abstract

The level of association between dipterans of the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae and habitats with different levels of vegetation cover was analyzed at Porto Urucu in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil, with the aim of identifying the potential of these taxa as bioindicators for the assessment of forest regeneration and conservation. The flies were collected in 16 sample areas, 12 of which were clearings at different stages of regeneration (C1—early regeneration; C2—moderate regeneration; and C3—advanced regeneration) and 4 in continuous forest (F). According to the IndVal analysis, nine sarcophagid species— Peckia ( Sarcodexia ) lambens (Wiedemann) , Peckia ( Peckia ) chrysostoma (Wiedemann), Peckia ( Squamatodes ) ingens (Walker) , Sarcofahrtiopsis cuneata (Townsend) , Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker), Peckia ( Euboettcheria ) collusor (Curran & Walley), Oxysarcodexia fringidea (Curran & Walley), Oxysarcodexia amorosa (Schiner), and Helicobia pilifera (Lopes)—were associated indiscriminately with clearings (C1 + C2 + C3). In contrast, only one calliphorid species Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) was associated with clearings in the early moderate regeneration (C1 + C2) phases, and four calliphorids were associated with continuous forest or mature clearings (C3 + F): Mesembrinella bicolor (F.), Eumesembrinella randa (Walker), Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich), and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann). These results indicate that sarcophagids may be useful for evaluating the degree of anthropogenic impact but are not suitable for the detection of minor variations in forest cover. In contrast, calliphorids may be appropriate for the evaluation of both anthropogenic impacts and the degree of forest regeneration and conservation.

A survey of Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae (Diptera) in semideciduous seasonal forest, Paraná, Brazil

“…This study also reports three new records for the South Region of Brazil: i) Laneella nigripes that only had records for the Southeast Region of the country -SILVA et al, 2010;URURAHY-RODRIGUES et al, 2013;SOUSA et al, 2014;KOSMANN et al, 2017).…”

“…This could explain the high abundance of Chrysomya and is a strong exclusion factor for other species due to the predatory character of immatures of this genus that, in some cases, can practice cannibalism (FARIA et al, 2004). Thus, native species tend to choose substrates for laying eggs where immature Chrysomya do not occur (GALINDO et al, 2016;SPINDOLA et al, 2017). This exclusion becomes evident because necrophagous species use ephemeral resources and tend to have an aggregate distribution (MOURA, 2004), so the competition for substrate becomes inevitable.…”

“…Calliphoridae species have different degrees of tolerance to environmental conditions and, therefore, are very affected by human impact in natural environments (SOUSA et al, 2014). Thus, from a conservation point of view, fly communities are directly affected by both environmental degradation and exotic species VASCONCELOS, 2016).…”

“…Thus, from a conservation point of view, fly communities are directly affected by both environmental degradation and exotic species VASCONCELOS, 2016). As a result, they are excellent indicators of anthropogenic impacts, as well as indicators of forest regeneration and conservation degree (SOUSA et al, 2014).…”

Differential Ability of Necrophagous Diptera to Colonize Concealed Resources: Empirical Evidence From a Field Experiment in Brazil

“…Interestingly, species of Chrysomya , commonly reported as dominant in studies with decaying animal substrates in South America (22,25), were not so in our study, especially when compared to the native L. eximia. The expressiveness of L. eximia compared to other species of the family may reflect the fact that this species apparently prefers undisturbed forest areas (26), as the experimental area is a state park with native forest cover, and this. In addition, our results show that C. albiceps , C. megacephala, and L. eximia (Calliphoridae); Fannia sp.…”