Taxonomic and functional diversity of insect herbivore assemblages associated with the canopy-dominant trees of the Azorean native forest

Collective and harmonized high throughput barcoding of insular arthropod biodiversity: Toward a Genomic Observatories Network for islands

Current understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes underlying island biodiversity is heavily shaped by empirical data from plants and birds, although arthropods comprise the overwhelming majority of known animal species, and as such can provide key insights into processes governing biodiversity. Novel high throughput sequencing (HTS) approaches are now emerging as powerful tools to overcome limitations in the availability of arthropod biodiversity data, and hence provide insights into these processes. Here, we explored how these tools might be most effectively exploited for comprehensive and comparable inventory and monitoring of insular arthropod biodiversity. We first reviewed the strengths, limitations and potential synergies among existing approaches of high throughput barcode sequencing. We considered how this could be complemented with deep learning approaches applied to image analysis to study arthropod biodiversity. We then explored how these approaches could be implemented within the framework of an island Genomic Observatories Network (iGON) for the advancement of fundamental and applied understanding of island biodiversity. To this end, we identified seven island biology themes at the interface of ecology, evolution and conservation biology, within which collective and harmonized efforts in HTS arthropod inventory could yield significant advances in island biodiversity research.

Diversity of Lepidoptera (Insecta) recorded in a forest nursery of Nordeste County on São Miguel Island (Azores)

Background

The diversity of moth species (Insecta, Lepidoptera) recorded in the forest nursery of Nordeste County on São Miguel Island (Azores) is given. Adults were sampled between March and December 2019 using three methods: (i) light trap to catch Noctuidae species, (ii) open-sided delta trap baited with a synthetic female sex pheromone lure to attract Epiphyaspostvittana (Walker) males and (iii) entomological net to collect microlepidopteran moths. This contribution focuses mainly on the diversity of moths present in one forest nursery of Nordeste County of São Miguel Island (Azores), especially on the species associated with endemic and native plant species. It also contributes to better plan strategies for integrated protection and conservation measures, since nurseries host a great diversity of plants from the Laurel Forest, which may attract many lepidopteran species.

New information

A total of 10160 adults belonging to 33 lepidopteran species were recorded and listed by families, including: Argyresthiidae, one species (3%), Crambidae, four species (12%), Erebidae, one species (3%), Geometridae, five species (15%), Noctuidae, 18 species (55%), Sphingidae, one species (3%), Tineidae, one species (3%) and Tortricidae, two species (6%). The families Noctuidae, Geometridae and Crambidae were the most diverse. Those with the highest abundance of adults were the Noctuidae family, followed by the Geometridae, Crambidae, Tortricidae and Tineidae. The number of caught adults was consistently higher during spring and summer, decreasing sharply in late autumn. For 13 species caught in the light trap, the adult sex ratio was favourable to females. An analysis of the colonisation status, feeding and primary hosts of these endemic, native or exotic moth species contributes to our understanding of the factors that may lead to their establishment in Laurel Forest environments and to what extent there is a need to monitor and control them mainly with biological control agents.

Can botanic gardens serve as refuges for taxonomic and functional diversity of Odonata? The case of the botanic garden of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)

In a scenario with declining biodiversity and habitat loss, botanic gardens could serve as refuges for invertebrates, but the opportunities they offer for animal conservation are still poorly understood. Odonata is a good model group for conservation studies, because it includes threatened species and responses to habitat disturbance are well documented. In this study, we assessed the role of the botanic garden of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain as a refuge for members of Odonata by analysing their taxonomic and functional diversity. We explored if the small size of the botanic garden might constrain the taxonomic diversity of Odonata and if low habitat diversity might limit their functional diversity. We sampled adult Odonata from five water bodies along a gradient of human impact and characterized the Odonata communities based on 12 functional traits in Odonata. We used a species-area relationship to control for differences in the size of water bodies. Compared with natural lakes, the Odonata communities contained less species and their functional diversity was lower in the botanic garden ponds, where generalist species were basically hosted. Despite these limitations, the botanic garden ponds hosted the number of species expected for natural water bodies with the moderate surface area and functional diversity, thereby demonstrating that they are a valuable habitat for Odonata in an urban environment. Appropriate management involving the removal of exotic fish and habitat diversification, including creating lotic environments, would increase the taxonomic and functional diversity of Odonata in this urban system.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10201-022-00704-3.

Arthropods and other biota associated with the Azorean trees and shrubs: Laurusazorica (Seub) Franco (Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Laurales, Lauraceae)

This study explores the composition and structure of species communities associated with the native Azorean tree species Laurusazorica (Seub) Franco (Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Laurales, Lauraceae). Communities were sampled in six Islands covering the occidental (Flores), central (Faial, Pico, Terceira) and eastern (São Miguel, Santa Maria) groups of Azores Archipelago during the BALA project, using standardised sampling protocols for surveying canopy arthropod fauna. In addition, the study characterises the distribution of species regarding their colonisation status and feeding modes and, finally, compares communities of different Islands. Ninety-four arthropod species totalling 10,313 specimens were collected on L.azorica. The Arthropod community was dominated by Hemiptera species, most of them being herbivores. Endemic and native species showed a very high abundance representing about 94% of the total species abundance. However, despite introduced species being represented by few individuals (6% of the total abundance), their diversity was remarkable (28 species and no significant difference with diversity found in endemic and native species communities). Analysis of rarity patterns revealed a stable community of endemic species (alpha gambin SAD model approaching a log-normal shape), intermediate stable community of native species (alpha SAD gambin model approaching a poisson log-normal) and a less stable community of introduced species (alpha SAD gambin model approaching a log-series shape). A dissimilarity analysis revealed high similarity between communities of Terceira and Pico and high dissimilarity between Flores and Faial communities. We observed a clear individualisation of the different islands when considering endemic species, whereas we observed high overlap when considering native and introduced species groups. Canopy community distribution confirms the results obtained in a previous study which suggest the stability of native and endemic arthropods species communities over introduced species community in native forests fragments. Arthropod species were richer than bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants species. We found that L.azorica serve as the substrate for very few vascular plants species (four epiphytes species), which were present in all Islands, except Elaphoglossumsemicylindricum, which does not occur in Santa Maria. L.azorica shelters a significant number of bryophytes and lichens species. Thirty-two lichens and 92 bryophyte species, including 57 liverworts and 35 mosses, are referred to this phorophyte. Five bryophyte species, all Azorean endemics, are considered Endangered by IUCN Criteria. L.azorica harbours a poor community of epiphyte vascular plant species and all of them were ferns, but the community of bryophytes and lichens are not negligible although very low compared to the community found on other previously studied Azorean trees, the Azorean cedar Juniperusbrevifolia. The present study shows that most islands present particular species distribution patterns without geographical correlation and that conservation programmes should be adapted to each Island. The study, therefore, calls for a specialisation of conservation programmes for each of the Islands.

The Role of Small Lowland Patches of Exotic Forests as Refuges of Rare Endemic Azorean Arthropods

Islands have been disproportionately affected by the current biodiversity crisis. In island biotas, one of the most recurrent anthropic alterations is species introduction. Invasion of exotic species may represent a major threat for island biotas, because invasive species may change species composition and simplify community dynamics. We investigated diversity patterns of native and introduced species in native and exotic forests of Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal) by using diversity profiles based on Hill numbers. Use of diversity profiles allows for a complete characterization of the community diversity because they combine information on species richness, rarity, and dominance. We found that native forest remnants are crucial for the maintenance of endemic Azorean arthropod diversity. However, we also found that some lowland patches of exotic forests can sustain populations of rare endemic species. Our findings reinforce the importance of the few and small remnants of native forests, which are a pillar to the conservation of Azorean endemic arthropods. However, areas occupied by exotic forests, whether they are large and contiguous or small and isolated, close to native forests, or embedded in a matrix of agriculture activities, can also play a role in the conservation of native species, including endemics.

The Denser Canopy of Mangrove Drives the Structure of Insect Communities

Mangrove restoration in Trenggalek, East Java has resulted an age variation of mangrove ecosystem. Diverse species of insects predominantly found in mangroves were collected using yellow pan traps, swipe nets and by direct picking from three different sites. This research was conducted from April until August 2015. There are 9,181 individual insects associated with mangroves comprised of 42 species from 31 families and eight orders. The first site or the 15 years old mangrove (66.22% canopy cover) indicated the highest Shannon diversity index at 2.54, Evenness index of 0.32 and Margalef richness index of 4.84. The lowest diversity was recorded in the third site or the five years old mangrove (19.65% canopy cover), with the Shannon diversity index at 2.28, Evenness index at 0.26 and Margalef richness index at 4.59. The most abundant species located was the Eristena mangalis, with 1,724 individuals (relative abundance of 18.78%), followed by Monolepta sp. with 1,649 individuals (relative abundance of 17.96%). These are the phytophagous insects associated with mangrove leaves. This study concluded that the older mangrove ecosystem have a denser canopy that supports insect life.