Odonata Diversity and Synanthropy in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Avellaneda City, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

The increase of human population, especially in urban areas, correlates with an alarming destruction of green spaces. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which urbanization processes affect biodiversity is crucial in integrating the environment in a proper urban planning. The main urban center of Argentina is known as the Greater Buenos Aires (GBA), and it includes the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and 24 surrounding districts. Avellaneda, one of the districts of the GBA, is an important urban and industrial center with green areas and low level of urbanization on the coastal area of the Río de la Plata. This paper provides the first Odonata inventory for Avellaneda, determines the species' level of synanthropy with the Nuorteva index, and assess the Odonata species replacement along a latitudinal gradient on the occidental margin of the Río de la Plata.

The Odonata of Argentina: state of knowledge and updated checklist

“…Traditionally, the main focus of odonatology in Argentina has been taxonomy; ecological papers on Odonata are very few (Campos, 1994;Muzón, Rodrigues Capitulo, & Jurzitza, 1990;Ramos, Lozano, & Muzón, 2017;Rodrigues Capitulo, 1981, 2000Weigel Muñoz, Ramos, & Muzón, 2019), so collections were intended to broaden the knowledge of alpha diversity of the country. In 1992, Rodrigues Capitulo published the first modern checklist, which included 224 species grouped in 11 families.…”