Browsing by Author "Aguiar, Carlos"
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- Canopy insect herbivores in the Azorean Laurisilva forests: key host plant species in a highly generalist insect communityPublication . Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Gaspar, Clara; Melo, Catarina; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Amaral, João; Aguiar, Carlos; André, Genage; Quartau, José A.This article explores patterns of insect herbivore distribution in the canopy of the Laurisilva forests on seven islands in the Azores archipelago. To our knowledge, this is one of the first extensive studied of this type in tree or shrub canopies of oceanic island ecosystems. One of the most frequently debated characteristics of such ecosystems is the likely prevalence of vague, ill-defined niches due to taxonomic disharmony, which may have implications for insect-plant interactions. For instance, an increase in ecological opportunities for generalist species is expected due to the lack of predator groups and reduced selection for chemical defence in host plants. The following two questions were addressed: 1) Are specialists rare species, and insect herbivore species randomly distributed among host plant species in the Azores? 2) Are the variances in insect herbivore species composition, frequency and richness explained by host plants or by regional island effects? We expect a proportional distribution of herbivore species between host plants, influenced by host frequency and distinct island effects; otherwise, deviation from expectation might suggest habitat preference for specific host tree crowns. Canopy beating tray samples were performed on seven islands, comprising 50 transects with 1 to 3 plant species each (10 replicates per species), giving 1320 samples from ten host species trees or shrubs in total. From a total of 129 insect herbivore species, a greater number of herbivore species was found on Juniperus brevifolia (s=65) and Erica azorica (s=53). However, the number of herbivore species per individual tree crown was higher for E. azorica than for any other host, on all islands, despite the fact that it was only the fourth more abundant plant. In addition, higher insect species richness and greater insect abundance were found on the trees of Santa Maria Island, the oldest in the archipelago. Insect species composition was strongly influenced by the presence of E. azorica, which was the only host plant with a characteristic fauna across the archipelago, whereas the fauna of other plant crowns was grouped by islands. The great insect occurrence on E. azorica reflects strong habitat fidelity, but only four species were clearly specialists. Our findings indicate a broadly generalist fauna. The simplicity of Azorean Laurisilva contributed to the understanding of insect-plant mechanisms in canopy forest habitats.
- Inventory of tiger- and ground-beetles (Coleoptera, Caraboidea, Cicindelidae and Carabidae) in two sampling seasons of the Gorongosa National Park, MozambiquePublication . Serrano, Artur; Baptista, Martim; Carvalho, Rui; Boieiro, Mário; Mendes, Sara; Bartz, M. L. C.; Timóteo, Sérgio; Pereira, Henrique; Aguiar, Carlos; Alves Da Silva, António; Alves, Joana; Briones, Maria; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Sousa, José; Martins da Silva, PedroABSTRACT: The Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique) is one of the most emblematic protected areas in Africa, well known for its vertebrate biodiversity and restoration ecology efforts following the Mozambican civil war in 1992. The invertebrate biodiversity of Gorongosa National Park is still poorly studied, although the scarce information available indicates the existence of a rich number of species, namely in the case of tiger- and ground-beetles (Coleoptera, Caraboidea). Moreover, the study of arthropod assemblages is key for designing conservation practices since they are potentially accurate biodiversity and ecological indicators. Hence, the diversity assessment of Caraboidea beetles using standardised methodologies is likely to provide a new insight for future conservation planning and help to quantify the effects of climate change in areas identified as vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures, such as the Gorongosa National Park.
- List of arthropods (Arthropoda)Publication . Borges, Paulo A. V.; Vieira, Virgilio; Dinis, Francisco; Jarroca, Sandra; Aguiar, Carlos; Amaral, João; Aarvik, Leif; Ashmole, Philip; Ashmole, Myrtle; Amorim, Isabel R.; André, Genage; Argente, Maria C.; Arraiol, Anabela; Cabrera, Almudena; Diaz, Suraya; Enghoff, H.; Gaspar, Clara; Pereira, Enésima; Gisbert, Hugo M.; Gonçalves, Paula; Lopes, David João Horta; Melo, Catarina; Mota, José A.; Oliveira, Odelta; Oromí, Pedro; Pereira, Fernando E. A. P.; Pombo, Dalberto; Quartau, José A.; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Rodrigues, Ana C.; Santos, Ana M. C.; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Simões, Ana M.; Soares, António O.; Sousa, António B.; Vieira, Luís; Vitorino, Álvaro; Wunderlich, Joerg
- New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forestsPublication . Borges, Paulo A. V.; Gaspar, Clara; Crespo, Luís C.; Rigal, François; Cardoso, Pedro; Pereira, Fernando; Rego, Carla; Amorim, Isabel; Melo, Catarina; Aguiar, Carlos; André, Genage; Pereira, Enésima; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Hortal, Joaquín; Santos, Ana M. C.; Barcelos, Luís Miguel Duarte; Enghoff, H.; Mahnert, Volker; Pita, Margarida T.; Ribes, Jordi; Baz, Arturo; Sousa, António B.; Vieira, Virgilio; Wunderlich, Jörg; Parmakelis, Aristeidis; Whittaker, Robert J.; Quartau, José A.; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Triantis, Kostas A.BACKGROUND: In this contribution we present detailed distribution and abundance data for arthropod species identified during the BALA – Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of the Azores (1999-2004) and BALA2 projects (2010-2011) from 18 native forest fragments in seven of the nine Azorean islands (all excluding Graciosa and Corvo islands, which have no native forest left). NEW INFORMATION: Of the total 286 species identified, 81% were captured between 1999 and 2000, a period during which only 39% of all the samples were collected. On average, arthropod richness for each island increased by 10% during the time frame of these projects. The classes Arachnida, Chilopoda and Diplopoda represent the most remarkable cases of new island records, with more than 30% of the records being novelties. This study stresses the need to expand the approaches applied in these projects to other habitats in the Azores, and more importantly to other less surveyed taxonomic groups (e.g. Diptera and Hymenoptera). These steps are fundamental for getting a more accurate assessment of biodiversity in the archipelago.
- A new species of Orthomus Chaudoir, 1838 (Coleoptera Carabidae) from Madeira Island (Macaronesia) and notes on related speciesPublication . Serrano, Artur R. M.; Aguiar, Carlos; Boieiro, Mário; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Rego, Carla; Amorim, Isabel R.; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Pereira, Fernando E. A.Neste estudo é descrita uma nova espécie de carabídeo (Coleoptera, Carabidae) da ilha da Madeira, FANAL e RIBEIRO BONITO: Orthomus (Nesorthomus) susanae Serrano & Borges, n. sp. Os adultos foram capturados através de armadilhas de queda. São dados os principais caracteres diagnosticantes nomeadamente os da genitália masculina. Um mapa com a sua distribuição na Madeira é apresentado. As principais afinidades com as espécies mais próximas de Orthomus (Nesorthomus) são discutidas, assim como é facultada uma chave dicotómica para os machos das oito espécies conhecidas para o arquipélago da Madeira.
- Ranking protected areas in the Azores using standardised sampling of soil epigean arthropodsPublication . Borges, Paulo A. V.; Aguiar, Carlos; Amaral, João; Amorim, Isabel R.; André, Genage; Arraiol, Anabela; Baz, Arturo; Dinis, Francisco; Enghoff, H.; Gaspar, Clara; Ilharco, Fernando A.; Mahnert, Volker; Melo, Catarina; Pereira, Fernando E. A. P.; Quartau, José A.; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Ribes, Jordi; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Sousa, António B.; Strassen, R. Z.; Vieira, Luís; Vieira, Virgílio; Vitorino, Álvaro; Wunderlich, JoergNineteen areas in seven of the nine Azorean islands were evaluated for species diversity and rarity based on soil epigean arthropods. Fifteen out of the 19 study areas are managed as Natural Forest Reserves and the remaining four were included due to their importance as indigenous forest cover. Four of the 19 areas are not included in the European Conservation network, NATURA 2000. Two sampling replicates were run per study area, and a total of 191 species were collected; 43 of those species (23%) are endemic to the archipelago and 12 have yet to be described. To produce an unbiased multiple-criteria index (importance value for conservation, IV-C) incorporating diversity and rarity based indices, an iterative partial multiple regression analysis was performed. In addition, an irreplaceability index and the complementarity method (using both optimisation and heuristic methods) were used for priority-reserves analyses. It was concluded that at least one well-managed reserve per island is absolutely necessary to have a good fraction of the endemic arthropods preserved. We found that for presence/absence data the suboptimal complementarity algorithm provides solutions as good as the optimal algorithm. For abundance data, optimal solutions indicate that most reserves are needed if we want that at least 50% of endemic arthropod populations are represented in a minimum set of reserves. Consistently, two of the four areas not included in the NATURA 2000 framework were considered of high priority, indicating that vascular plants and bird species used to determine NATURA 2000 sites are not good surrogates of arthropod diversity in the Azores. The most irreplaceable reserves are those located in older islands, which indicates that geological history plays an important role in explaining faunal diversity of arthropods in the Azores. Based both on the uniqueness of species composition and high species richness, conservation efforts should be focused on the unmanaged Pico Alto region in the archipelago’s oldest island, Santa Maria.
- Relação entre o número de espécies e o número de táxones de alto nível para a fauna de artrópodes dos AçoresPublication . Borges, Paulo A. V.; Aguiar, Carlos; André, Genage; Enghoff, H.; Gaspar, Clara; Melo, Catarina; Quartau, José A.; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Vieira, Luís; Vitorino, Álvaro; Wunderlich, JoergNesta contribuição pretendemos avaliar a aplicação dos modelos RESTAN, "Relação entre o número de Espécies e o número de Táxones de Alto Nível", à fauna de artrópodes de vários habitats das ilhas dos Açores. Utilizámos várias bases de dados recentemente obtidas baseadas em amostragens estandardizadas de artrópodes epígeos do solo em florestas de áreas protegidas, artrópodes fitófagos e predadores de pastagens semeadas e semi-naturais e artrópodes da copa da árvore endémica Juniperus brevifolia. Os modelos RESTAN são aplicados não só usando dados puramente taxonómicos, mas igualmente agrupando os taxa em termos de estratégias ecológicas (e.g. herbívoros, predadores) e de colonização das ilhas (e.g. endémicos). Deste modo pensamos poder avaliar a aplicabilidade destes modelos em estudos de estrutura de comunidades e de conservação. Para os Açores, a aplicação dos modelos RESTAN constitui uma forma muito prática e eficaz de obter estimativas de diversidade. De facto, em todas as matrizes de dados analisadas a riqueza de espécies pode ser estimada eficazmente usando apenas a riqueza em géneros, sendo a relação linear. Ao nível da família, os modelos estimadores possuem um menor poder explicativo e são melhor explicados por uma função exponencial. O escalonamento de Reservas Florestais Naturais dos Açores em termos de biodiversidade de artrópodes endémicos pode ser efectuado usando informação taxonómica ao nível do género. A aplicação de métodos de estimativa rápida de biodiversidade fica assim facilitada, podendo usar-se parataxonomistas bem treinados para o processo de triagem do grande número de amostras geralmente necessárias em estudos ecológicos. Discute-se igualmente a aplicabilidade dos modelos RESTAN a dados de diversidade alfa, beta e gama.