Successional and seasonal changes of leaf beetles and their indicator value in a fragmented low thorn forest of northeastern Mexico (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) constitute a highly diverse family of phytophagous insects with high ecological relevance, due to their host plant specificity and their close association to vegetation variables. Therefore, secondary succession and seasonal changes after loss of vegetal cover will have a significant influence on their community patterns. Accordingly, responses of leaf beetles to such environmental heterogeneity make them a suitable taxon for monitoring disturbance, which is more important for endangered habitats such as the low thorn forests (LTF) in northeastern Mexico. We conducted a study in a LTF fragment in order to assess the effects of secondary succession and seasonality on leaf beetle communities, as well as to quantify the importance of Chrysomelidae as an indicator taxon. Landsat scenes were used for delimiting a successional gradient, in which four succession categories were selected: four years, 17 years, and 31 years since loss of vegetal cover, and conserved areas. Eight plots of 100 m2were randomly delimited in each category; plots were sampled monthly, using an entomological sweep net, from May 2016 to April 2017. In total, 384 samples were collected by the end of study, from which 6978 specimens, six subfamilies, 57 genera, and 85 species were obtained. Species richness was higher in early succession areas. Abundance declined significantly from early successional to conserved areas, but the conserved areas had the higher diversity. Furthermore, differences in abundance were significant between rainy and dry seasons in areas of four, 17, and 31 years of succession, but not in conserved areas; also, all categories had a similar abundance during the dry season. Intermediate (17 and 31 years) and conserved areas differed in the season of higher diversity. Regarding inventory completeness, it was close to or above 70 % for all comparisons, although it was very low for the 17-year category during the rainy season. Faunistic similarity was higher between intermediate categories. A total of 24 species had a significant indicator value. Effects of succession time and seasonality on leaf beetle communities are here quantified for first time in LTF forests. Influences of environmental heterogeneity and intermediate disturbance are discussed as main drivers of the results obtained. Several leaf beetle species are proposed that could be useful for monitoring succession time and secondary LTF vegetation in northeastern Mexico. However, studies must be replicated at other regions, in order to obtain a better characterization of disturbance influence on leaf beetles.

Soil Health and Arthropods: From Complex System to Worthwhile Investigation

“…In the case of leaf beetles, Linzmeier et al [40] found that the proportional abundance of Chrysomelidae/Coleoptera in a temperate wet forest decreases with increasing degree of succession. The authors in [41], instead, observed that this type of indicator, i.e., using either abundance or species richness, was not useful to detect major changes in the habitat structure in a low thorn forest. They noted that species richness and abundance increase in modified areas because of high plant heterogeneity due to disturbance.…”

“…Thus, Chrysomelidae distribution in low thorn forest vegetation is unique to conserved habitats when compared with disturbed areas. Moreover, a system that includes not only species richness and abundance but also assemblage composition is needed to allow better understanding of Chrysomelidae response to environmental disturbance and, in some cases, the use of genera instead of species was found to be a more efficient tool of bioindication [41,42].…”

The Cassidinae beetles of Longnan County (Jiangxi, China): overview and community composition

“…Most studies on Cassidine species occurring in China focus on morphological descriptions, with some with biological information including host plant records and genome composition (Chen et al 1986, Lee et al 2009, Qi 2009, Guo et al 2017a, Guo et al 2017b, Yang et al 2017, Yao et al 2017, Liao et al 2018a, Liao et al 2018b, Liu et al 2018, Peng et al 2018, Xu et al 2018), but almost none on community composition and diversity patterns (Chen et al 1986). Moreover, it was unfortunate for Cassidinae that urbanisation and agricultural activities increased anthropogenic disturbances, which have high negative impacts on their distribution, diversity and dynamics (Nummelin and Borowiec 1992, Ghate et al 2003, Chaboo 2007, Sánchez-Reyes et al 2019). Many Cassidinae species had disappeared before being documented.…”

Assembleia de Alticini (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) em fragmentos florestais no sudoeste do Paraná, Brasil

“…Espécies de Margaridisa também têm sido abundantemente coletadas em diversos estudos. No PROFAUPAR, em Antonina, uma espécie de Margaridisa foi a mais numerosa (Linzmeier & Ribeiro-Costa, 2012); representantes desse gênero estão entre os mais abundantes em estudos realizados no Cerrado de Goiás (Pimenta & De Marco, 2015), no México (Niño-Maldonado et al, 2014, Sánchez-Reyes et al, 2019 e na Costa Rica (Hanson et al, 2010). Mesmo sendo dominante em todos os estudos citados, não foi possível identificar Margaridisa em nível específico, o que sugere que tais espécies possam ser comuns e mesmo assim pouco se conhece sobre elas.…”

“…Essa tribo apresenta o maior número de espécies dentre os Chrysomelidae, cerca de 10.000, com 1.407 delas registradas para o Brasil (Linzmeier, 2017). Além disso, tem sido abundantemente registrada em diversos estudos tanto no Brasil quanto no exterior (Novotný et al, 1999;Linzmeier et al, 2006;Linzmeier & Ribeiro-Costa, 2012;Niño-Maldonado et al, 2014;Peck et al, 2014;Sánchez-Reyes et al, 2016, 2019.…”