Macroinvertebrate communities in high mountain desert wetlands: Building biological indexes to address the vulnerability of species and communities

SCHEIBLER ERICA ELIZABETH; MONTEMAYOR SARA ITZEL; MELO MARÍA CECILIA

INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY

Wiley-Blackwell

Año: 2022

1752-458X

1. Andean wetlands in arid climates are isolated ecosystems surrounded by steep terrainand have crucial relevance as a water resource. The species inhabiting them areadapted to these habitats and vulnerable to environmental changes.2. The aim of this study is to evaluate the vulnerability of invertebrate aquatic speciesto climate change and organic pollution through an index adapted from thespecies distributional models (SDM) score [vulnerability of aquatic invertebratespecies index (Vais)], and the vulnerability of the invertebrate communitiesthrough an index developed herein [wetland community vulnerabilityindex (Wcv)].3. The Vais index ranges from 1 (highly vulnerable) to 0 (non-vulnerable species). Itwas calculated for 22 species of the orders Coleoptera, Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera,and Odonata. According to our results, the most vulnerable species belong to theorders Ephemeroptera (2) and Odonata (8) (scores 0.63–0.76); species with mediumvulnerability belong to the orders Coleoptera (1) Ephemeroptera (1), Hemiptera(4) and Odonata (1) (scores 0.43–0.54); and the most tolerant species belong to theorders Coleoptera (2) and Hemiptera (3) (0.31–0.29).4. The Wcv index was calculated for 31 communities in Andean wetlands. Lower Wcvvalues correspond to less vulnerable communities and higher values to more vulnerablecommunities. According to our results, communities can be divided into threegroups: the most vulnerable (scores 0.61–0.71), the ones with medium vulnerability(scores 0.49–0.59), and the least vulnerable (scores 0.33–0.48).5. The Vais and Wcv indexes are useful tools for evaluating the vulnerability of aquaticspecies and wetland communities, providing valuable information for defining conservationstrategies.