González Sergio A, Yáñez-Navea Katherine, Muñoz Mauricio
Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Casilla 117, Coquimbo, Chile.
Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Casilla 117, Coquimbo, Chile.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Jun 15;83(1):265-74. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.03.042. Epub 2014 Apr 24.
The beetle Phaleria maculata is a common inhabitant of the upper intertidal fringe of Chilean beaches. Anthropogenic intervention in coastal areas has increased intensely, leading to changes in the flora and fauna of sandy beaches. To examine the impact of human activities on P. maculata, we studied several beaches along the northern Chilean coast. Beaches were characterized based on morphodynamics and the level of intervention, leading to the estimation of an "Urbanization Index" based on various indicators. The analysis showed a significant inverse correlation between the rate of urbanization and night sky quality. Larval and adult beetles were almost absent on beaches with high levels of urbanization. The results of simple and multiple correlations based on nMDS ordination showed an inverse relationship between increases in urbanization and the abundance of beetles. Because darkling beetles are very sensitive to human interventions on sandy beaches, we suggest that they are ideal indicator organisms for the health of these environments.
甲虫黄斑隐翅虫是智利海滩潮间带上部边缘的常见栖息者。沿海地区的人为干预急剧增加，导致沙滩动植物群发生变化。为了研究人类活动对黄斑隐翅虫的影响，我们对智利北部海岸的几个海滩进行了研究。根据形态动力学和干预程度对海滩进行了特征描述，从而基于各种指标估算出一个“城市化指数”。分析表明，城市化率与夜空质量之间存在显著的负相关。在城市化程度高的海滩上，幼虫和成虫几乎不存在。基于非度量多维尺度排序的简单和多重相关性结果表明，城市化增加与甲虫数量之间存在负相关关系。由于拟步甲对沙滩上的人类干预非常敏感，我们认为它们是这些环境健康状况的理想指示生物。
