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Drosophilid assemblages as a bioindicator system of human disturbance in the Brazilian Savanna

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Abstract

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) the development of bioindicators is extremely necessary to achieve the conservation targets by 2010, and insects are considered an effective group for this goal. Drosophilids are regarded as potential indicators, although this idea remains untested. Therefore, we followed up a protocol to test the drosophilid potential indicator for human disturbance in the Brazilian Savanna, one of the richest and most threatened tropical biomes in the world. Sampling was undertaken in one urban environment and two biological reserves, representing four habitat types (undisturbed gallery forest, disturbed gallery forest, undisturbed savanna, and urban environment). We examined differences in the drosophilid assemblages among habitat types and used the Indicator Value (IndVal) method to point out the indicator species. We also tested the two-stage indicator validation, a protocol recently proposed in the literature, to validate the indicator species for undisturbed gallery forest and savannas, in independent samples. The assemblage variables varied mainly in undisturbed gallery forests, and reflected changes from an undisturbed to a disturbed stage. The IndVal associated with the two-stage protocol showed reliable characteristic species, which are very helpful for diagnostic surveys. Likewise, species that can detect changes in the habitats were also found. We found a set of indicators, which together may be very efficient for both assessing and reflecting a variety of conditions, improving the confidence of the bioindication system, expanding the taxonomic options for bioindicators, and therefore, contributing to the conservation of this region.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ecological Reserve of IBGE (RECOR), Brasilia National Park (PN), and Spatial, Physiological, and Conservation Ecology laboratory of the Stellenbosch University and Universidade de Brasília for the logistic support, and to C.C. Arruda for the critical reading of the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas/ECO, Universidade de Brasília, 70904-970, Brasília, Brazil

    Renata Alves da Mata

  2. Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Centre for Invasion Biology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Melodie McGeoch

  3. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas/GEM, Universidade de Brasília, CP 04457, Brasilia, DF, 70904-970, Brazil

    Rosana Tidon

Authors
  1. Renata Alves da Mata
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  2. Melodie McGeoch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosana Tidon.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Abundance of drosophilid species identified in this study and number of sites in which they occurred

Species

Abundance

Sites

Zaprionus indianus a Gupta, 1970

32,110

19

Drosophila simulans a Sturtevant, 1919

19,900

19

D. willistoni Sturtevant, 1916

10,574

16

D. sturtevanti Duda, 1927

4,402

19

D. mercatorum Patterson & Wheeler, 1942

2,885

19

D. nebulosa Sturtevant, 1916

1,719

19

D. cardini Sturtevant, 1916

1,276

19

D. malerkotliana a Parshad & Paika, 1964

1,173

16

D. polymorpha Dobzanhsky & Pavan, 1943

807

16

D. immigrans a Sturtevant, 1921

680

14

Scaptodrosophila latifasciaeformis a Duda, 1940

436

12

D. paraguayensis Duda, 1927

278

5

D. ornatifrons Duda, 1927

213

12

D. hydei Sturtevant, 1921

167

12

D. cardinoides Dobzanhsky & Pavan, 1943

142

7

D. nigricruria Patterson & Mainland, 1943

90

13

D. prosaltans Duda, 1927

80

16

D. busckii a Coquillet, 1901

77

11

D. maculifrons Duda, 1927

50

7

D. fuscolineata Duda, 1925

33

6

D. mediostriata Duda, 1925

31

11

D. mediopunctata Dobzhansky & Pavan, 1943

27

5

D. austrosaltans Spassky, 1957

22

3

D. neocardini Streisinger, 1946

20

3

D. aragua Vilela & Pereira, 1982

16

7

D. paranaensis Barros, 1950

15

5

D. atrata Burla & Pavan, 1953

10

2

D. bocainensis Pavan & Cunha, 1947

9

4

D. schildi Malloch, 1924

7

4

D. mesostigma Frota-Pessoa, 1954

7

1

D. guaru Dobzanhsky & Pavan, 1943

6

4

D. pallidipennis Dobzanhsky & Pavan, 1943

5

2

D. melanogaster a Meigen, 1830

4

3

D. bandeirantorum Dobzhansky & Pavan, 1943

4

2

D. onca Dobzanhsky & Pavan, 1943

3

1

D. ararama Pavan & Cunha, 1947

2

2

D. arauna Pavan & Nacrur, 1950

2

1

D. fumipennis Duda, 1925

1

1

D. medioimpressa Frota-Pessoa, 1954

1

1

D. neoguaramunu Frydenberg, 1956

1

1

D. paramediostriata Townsend & Wheeler, 1955

1

1

Total

77,286

 19

  1. aExotic species

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da Mata, R.A., McGeoch, M. & Tidon, R. Drosophilid assemblages as a bioindicator system of human disturbance in the Brazilian Savanna. Biodivers Conserv 17, 2899–2916 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9403-7

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