Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta-CONICET-CCT Salta, Av. Bolívia 5150, Código Postal 4400, Salta, Argentina.
Instituto para el Estudio de la Biodiversidad de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Av. Bolivia 5150, Código Postal 4400, Salta, Argentina.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2023 May 29;95(2):e20201185. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765202320201185. eCollection 2023.
Factors influencing the diversity of tenebrionid beetles in arid, high-altitude environments in the northwest of Argentina are little-known. Using pitfall traps and suction sampling in 30 sites, we collected these beetles in Altos Andes (AA) and Puna (PU) ecoregions and evaluated how local and regional factors influenced their assemblages. During each sampling date, we registered variables related to climate, vegetation, and soil in each sampling site. In total, we recorded 270 individuals from 21 species, richness of species was higher in PU than in AA, but without a statistically significant difference. Twelve species were present exclusively in PU, while two in AA. Tenebrionid assemblages in both ecoregions had different dominant species, in PU, Psectrascelis cariosicollis while Epipedonota interandina in AA. Beta diversity between ecoregions was moderate and we recorded a high beta diversity and high turnover of species in each ecoregion. The geographical distance between the sites influenced the similarity of the assemblages inside and between ecoregions, therefore, an increase in the geographical distance between sites determined a decrease in the similarity of the assemblages. The increase in elevation of the sampled sites did not produce significant changes in the abundance and richness of Tenebrionidae. There is no individual factor responsible for the darkling beetle communities structuration in these high-altitude environments. Different combinations of both local (soil and vegetation) and regional (climate and geographical distance) environmental factors together explain the ecoregional tenebrionid assemblages. We suggest including them among the focus groups in conservation studies to evaluate anthropogenic activities in this area.
在阿根廷西北部干旱高海拔环境中影响拟步甲科甲虫多样性的因素知之甚少。我们在高山（AA）和普纳（PU）生态区的 30 个地点使用陷阱和吸力采样收集了这些甲虫，并评估了局部和区域因素如何影响它们的组合。在每个采样日期，我们在每个采样点记录了与气候、植被和土壤相关的变量。总共记录了 270 个个体，来自 21 个物种，PU 的物种丰富度高于 AA，但无统计学意义。12 种物种仅存在于 PU，而 2 种存在于 AA。两个生态区的拟步甲科昆虫群落在优势物种上有所不同，PU 是 Psectrascelis cariosicollis，而 AA 是 Epipedonota interandina。两个生态区之间的 Beta 多样性为中等，我们记录了每个生态区的 Beta 多样性高且物种周转率高。采样点之间的地理距离影响了生态区内部和之间的组合相似性，因此，采样点之间的地理距离增加会导致组合的相似性降低。采样点海拔的升高并没有导致拟步甲科昆虫丰度和丰富度的显著变化。没有一个单独的因素可以解释这些高海拔环境中暗黑甲虫群落的结构。局部（土壤和植被）和区域（气候和地理距离）环境因素的不同组合共同解释了生态区的拟步甲科昆虫组合。我们建议将它们纳入保护研究的重点群体中，以评估该地区的人为活动。
