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Percentage of Impervious Surface Soil as Indicator of Urbanization Impacts in Neotropical Aquatic Insects

  • Ecology, Behavior and Bionomics
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Abstract

Several recent studies have shown a strong correlation between the area of impervious surface soil (IS) and the insect community structure from urban streams. This study assessed whether this relationship is observed in Neotropical streams. We examined if an increased IS reduces the diversity and simplifies the trophic structure of the community of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera. An IS threshold was detected between 1.6 and 9.3%, in which there is a change in the community, both in taxonomic richness and trophic structure. Among the 27 genera identified, only 15 occurred in streams with IS > 9%, while 24 genera were registered in streams with IS < 2%. The trophic guilds of predators and shredders were not observed in streams with high IS, decreasing the number of guilds in these streams from 5 to 3, compared with the streams with low IS. Three hypotheses with cumulative effect have been proposed to explain such variations. Based on the IS threshold verified, the creation of a mosaic of land use, where some subbasins would be sacrificed and others would be preserved, was suggested as a mitigation measure for the impacts caused by urbanization in the Neotropical aquatic insects' fauna.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledged Prof. Almir Manoel Cunico - UFPR/ Palotina, for his help in data analysis. Prof. Gizele L Almeida - Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Prof. Frederico F Salles - UFES/CEUNES and Prof. Pitágoras C Bispo - UNESP/Assis, for their help in the aquatic insects identification. We also thank MCT/CNPq/CT-Hidro (Proc. 555185/2006-0) for the funding and CAPES/PROEX for the scholarship to the first author. Thanks are given also to PEA-UEM for providing the logistics and staff to gatherer the data.

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  1. Univ Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo, 5790 - NUPELIA/ PEA - Bloco G 90, 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brasil

    F N O Fogaça, L C Gomes & J Higuti

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  1. F N O Fogaça
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  2. L C Gomes
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Correspondence to F N O Fogaça.

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Edited by Wesley AC Godoy – ESALQ/USP

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Fogaça, F.N.O., Gomes, L.C. & Higuti, J. Percentage of Impervious Surface Soil as Indicator of Urbanization Impacts in Neotropical Aquatic Insects. Neotrop Entomol 42, 483–491 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-013-0155-z

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