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Ranking protected areas in the Azores using standardised sampling of soil epigean arthropods

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Abstract

Nineteen 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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dep. de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade dos Açores, Terra-Chã 9700–851, Açores, Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Portugal

    P.A.V. Borges, J. Amaral, A. Arraiol, F. Dinis, C. Gaspar, C. Melo, F. Pereira, L. Vieira & A. Vitorino

  2. Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa (DZA), Centro de Biologia Ambiental, R. Ernesto de Vasconcelos, Ed. C2, 3° Piso, Campo Grande, P-1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    C. Aguiar, G. André, J.A. Quartau & A.R.M. Serrano

  3. Laboratório Regional de Veterinária, Vinha Brava, 9700-236, Açores, Angra doHeroísmo, Terceira, Portugal

    J. Amaral

  4. Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. So., Box 951606, 90095-1606, LosAngeles, CA, USA

    I.R. Amorim

  5. Sitio da Fajã, Arco da Calheta, 9370, Madeira, Calheta, Portugal

    A. Arraiol

  6. Dep. de Biologia Animal, Universidad de Alcala, E-28871, Madrid, Alcala de Henares, Spain

    A. Baz

  7. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    H. Enghoff

  8. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, S10 2TN, Sheffield, UK

    C. Gaspar

  9. Estação Agronómica Nacional, Quinta do Marquês, 2780-505, Oeiras, Portugal

    F. Ilharco

  10. Museum d’ Histoire Naturelle, Case Postale 6434, CH-1211, Geneva 6, Switzerland

    V. Mahnert

  11. Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, DECBI, Laboratório de Ecologia Evolutiva deHerbívoros de Dossel, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, 35400-000, OuroPreto, MG, Brazil

    S.P. Ribeiro

  12. J.Ribes, Valencia 123-125, ent., 3a, E-08011, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Ribes

  13. SPEN – Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia, Apartado 8221, P-1803-001, Lisboa, Portugal

    A.B. Sousa

  14. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325, Frankfurtam Main, Germany

    R.Z. Strassen

  15. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade dos Açores, CIRN, Rua da Mãe de Deus, PT, 9501-801, Açores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    V. Vieira

  16. J. Wunderlich, Hindenburgstr. 94, D-75334, Straubenhardt, Germany

    J. Wunderlich

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  1. P.A.V. Borges
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  2. C. Aguiar
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  3. J. Amaral
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  4. I.R. Amorim
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  5. G. André
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  6. A. Arraiol
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  7. A. Baz
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  8. F. Dinis
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  9. H. Enghoff
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  10. C. Gaspar
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  11. F. Ilharco
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  12. V. Mahnert
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  13. C. Melo
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  14. F. Pereira
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  15. J.A. Quartau
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  16. S.P. Ribeiro
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  17. J. Ribes
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  18. A.R.M. Serrano
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  19. A.B. Sousa
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  20. R.Z. Strassen
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  21. L. Vieira
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  22. V. Vieira
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  23. A. Vitorino
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  24. J. Wunderlich
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Correspondence to P.A.V. Borges.

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Borges, P., Aguiar, C., Amaral, J. et al. Ranking protected areas in the Azores using standardised sampling of soil epigean arthropods. Biodivers Conserv 14, 2029–2060 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-4283-y

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