Biota from the coastal wetlands of Praia da Vitória (Terceira, Azores, Portugal): Part 1 - Arthropods

Abstract

BackgroundDuring a LIFE research project aiming at the implementation of the conservation of the habitats and restoration of coastal wetland areas of Praia da Vitória (Terceira, Azores, Portugal), there was the opportunity undertake a systematic record of several groups of arthropods in three wetland areas: Paul da Praia da Vitória (PPV), Paul do Belo Jardim (PBJ) and Paul da Pedreira do Cabo da Praia (PPCP). The objective of the study was to perform a rapid biodiversity assessment, comparing the three sites in two different years, before and after the implementation of several conservation measures. This project also contributed to improve the knowledge of Azorean arthropod diversity at both local and regional scales, including new taxa for Terceira island and new records for Azores. Taking into consideration those aims, a set of standardised sampling methods were performed, inspired by the COBRA protocol originally developed for spiders.New informationA total of 15,810 specimens belonging to 216 arthropod species and subspecies were collected. Beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera) and spiders (Araneae) dominated, with 81 and 51 taxa, respectively. Two beetle families dominated, Staphylinidae and Curculionidae with, respectively, 22 and 17 species and subspecies. Exotic species were also dominant (132 species and subspecies), the Azorean endemics being restricted to only eight taxa. The remaining 76 species and subspecies are native non-endemic. Two rare endemic species were found with relatively sustainable populations, the Azores Cone-head Conocephalus chavesi (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) and the true weevil Drouetius oceanicus oceanicus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). A total of six species are novel for the Azores, five exotic (Bledius unicornis, Carpelimus zealandicus, Oenopia doublieri, Sitona hispidulus, Trichiusa immigrata) and one possibly native (Pyrrhocoris apterus). An additional 15 taxa are novel for Terceira island, ten exotic (Cheiracanthium mildei, Cylindroiulus latestriatus, Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis, Nemobius sylvestris, Pissodes castaneus, Psyllipsocus ramburi, Trachyzelotes lyonneti, Trigonnidium cicindeloides, Tychius cuprifer, Zelotes tenuis) and five native (Aegialia arenaria, Oxypoda lurida, Platycleis sabulosa, Plinthisus brevipennis, Tachyura diabrachys).

Endemics Versus Newcomers: The Ladybird Beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Fauna of Gran Canaria

“…Distribution: Known to be from the Mediterranean region, both in Europe and North Africa, and on the eastern islands of the Canarian archipelago (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife) [ 3 , 19 , 22 ]. Recently reported to be on the Azores [ 45 ].…”

Biota from the coastal wetlands of Praia da Vitória (Terceira, Azores, Portugal): Part 4 – Vascular plants

“…However, in Praia da Vitória (a lowland area in the east of the island), the climate is temperate with hot and dry summers (Csa) (Atlas 2012). For more details on the description of the study area see Borges et al (2018). During the study period, conservation measures were implemented, namely the creation/enlargement of water bodies in PBJ and PPV and the improvement of bird watching regulation and control of Arundo donax in PPCP and PPV.…”

“…Since the earlier works by Dias et al (1991), Morton et al (1997) and Morton et al (1998), the first comprehensive study of Praia da Vitória wetlands was done by the LIFE-CWR coastal wetlands restoration project, under the responsibility of Praia da Vitória Municipality. The present data paper is the fourth of a series dealing with the biota from these coastal wetlands (see Borges et al 2018, Gabriel et al 2019, Goulart et al 2019).…”

Biota of coastal wetlands of Praia da Vitória (Terceira Island, Azores): Part 2 - Bryophytes

“…This is the second contribution in a series of papers (Borges et al 2018) intending to characterize the biota of the three areas.…”