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Congruence and the Biomonitoring of Aquatic Ecosystems: Are Odonate Larvae or Adults the Most Effective for the Evaluation of Impacts

  • Ecology, Behavior and Bionomics
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Abstract

Odonata have been widely used as indicators for the biomonitoring of terrestrial and aquatic habitats due to their sensitivity to environmental impacts. We aimed to determine whether the larval or adult phases of these insects were the best predictors of variation in habitat parameters and the loss of environmental integrity. Specimens were collected during three seasons (dry, rainy, and ebb) from 12 points in the Suiá-missu River basin, at the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Protest analysis indicated a high degree of congruence between the assemblages of larvae and adults in streams with varying degrees of habitat integrity (R = 0.832, p < 0.001, m 2 = 0.307). When the congruence with environmental factors was analyzed, a significant association was found only for the larval phase (R = 0.318, p = 0.03, m 2 = 0.888). When the suborders were analyzed separately, congruence was confirmed for anisopteran adults (R = 0.338, p = 0.031, m 2 = 0.885) and larvae (R = 0.417, p = 0.003, m 2 = 0.826) and for the zygopteran adults (R = 0.345, p = 0.027, m 2 = 0.881) and larvae (R = 0.405, p = 0.011, m 2 = 0.836). These results indicate that both larvae and adults respond systematically to environmental impacts. We suggest that either life phase can be used for biomonitoring, given their effectiveness for the interpretation of disturbance in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These findings further reinforce the effectiveness of this insect order for the detection of modifications to the environment, showing that they are good indicators of environmental conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Laboratory of Entomology (Laboratório de Entomologia) at Nova Xavantina/UNEMAT and all the staff for the help in field. We also thank FAPEMAT for the Scientific Initiation scholarship granted to the student Thiago Pereira Mendes, which allowed him to dedicate his time exclusively to this project. The partners EMBRAPA, ISA, and NGOs related to Y Ikatu Xingu Campaign all provided incentives for this research. We are grateful to the Brazilian Higher Education Training Program (CAPES). We also thank CNPq for financial support (process no. 520268/2005-9), a research fellowship granted to Leandro Juen, and a postdoctoral fellowship to Joana Darc Batista (process no. 350790/2013-2). We are indebted to the specialist Frederico A. A. Lencioni for his help with the identification of the adult zygopterans. Finally, we thank the support of PROPESP/UFPA and FADESP for this publication, the Federal University of Pará (Universidade Federal do Pará—UFPA), and the Graduate Program in Zoology (programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia—PPGZOO, UFPA-MPEG).

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  1. Ecology and Conservation Lab, Graduate Program in Zoology, Univ Federal do Pará-UFPA, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi-MPEG, Belém, PA, Brasil

    T P Mendes, J M B Oliveira-Junior & L Juen

  2. Entomology Lab, Dept of Biology, Univ do Estado de Mato Grosso-UNEMAT, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil

    H S R Cabette & J D Batista

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  1. T P Mendes
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Correspondence to T P Mendes.

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Mendes, T.P., Oliveira-Junior, J.M.B., Cabette, H.S.R. et al. Congruence and the Biomonitoring of Aquatic Ecosystems: Are Odonate Larvae or Adults the Most Effective for the Evaluation of Impacts. Neotrop Entomol 46, 631–641 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0503-5

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