Influence of Deforestation on the Community Structure of Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Eastern Amazonia

Abstract

Variation in the structure of phlebotomine (sand fly) communities in forest fragments with different degrees of preservation and human occupation (peridomicile) in eastern Amazonia was studied. We identified 43 species of sand flies in our study, of which 38 occurred in both preserved forest areas and in the peridomiciles of short-term settlements, while another 28 species occurred in altered forest fragments and long-term settlements. The composition of the community at each site changed with the type of environment (forest or peridomicile), with the species Lutzomyia evandroi, L. whitmani, L. choti, L. serrana, L. triacantha, L. migonei, L. hirsuta, L. shannoni, and L. brachyphylla accounting for more than 54% of the differences among environments. The quality of the environment exerted a significant influence on the structure of phlebotomine communities, and affected their species composition, richness, and abundance.

Effects of forest degradation on the sand fly communities of northeast Brazil

“…One‐third of the species were found exclusively in the short‐term area. Richness was high in the conserved forest fragment, comparable to that found in the dense rainforest (Marinho et al 2008, Rebêlo et al 2019) and open (Campos et al 2013, Moraes et al 2015), being almost two times greater than in the degraded forest and quite different from the anthropogenic environment. Nine species were absent in both the peri‐domicile or the intra‐domicile environments of the short‐term area.…”

“…High demographic pressures, economic needs, and intensive land use for agricultural crop and livestock production transform and compromise the conservation of biodiversity in these forest fragments (Gascon et al 1999). As a result, they negatively affect vital resources for sand fly development (Rebêlo et al 2019). Mammals, which represent an important source of food for sand flies, must be affected because of environmental change.…”

“…Deforestation has contributed to the ecological modification of these species by selecting for those capable of surviving in these new areas, even in the peri‐domicile of settlements near secondary forests (Rebêlo et al 2019). These changes in the ecology of sand flies have modified the epidemiology of leishmaniasis (Walsh et al 1993, Gottwalt 2013).…”

“…The areas that were once fallow were occupied by cattle breeders who arrived from other regions and contributed to increase the pasture areas (Souza et al 2013). With the progressive modification of the natural landscape over time, diseases such as leishmaniasis were predicted to be extinguished by the exclusion of sand flies and their hosts from the modified areas (Gomes et al 1992), but what has been observed is the adaptation of species in these new rural and peri‐urban environments (Rebêlo et al 2019).…”

“…Studies have shown a great species richness and abundance of sand flies in the peri‐domicile environments of several municipalities in the State of Maranhão (Silva et al 2010, 2012, 2015, Campos et al 2013, Rebêlo et al 2019). Some of these species are infected with different Leishmania species (Guimarães‐e‐Silva et al 2017, Pereira‐Filho et al 2018, Fonteles et al 2018).…”