INVESTIGADORES
FLORES Gustavo Ernesto
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Epigean Tenebrionids (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from Northern arid Patagonia: ecological remarks and their relationship with anthropic desertification
Autor/es:
CHELI, G.H., G.E. FLORES. F. MARTÍNEZ, N. MARTÍNEZ ROMÁN, G. PAZOS, P. OLIVERA, M. ALFARO Y S. GIACOMINO
Reunión:
Simposio; IV International Tenebrionoidea Symposium; 2015
Resumen:
A mixed temperature-precipitationgradient causes great environmental heterogeneity in arid Patagoniathat determines complex biotic communities. Several environmentalclassifications were made in attempts to understand the effects of this heterogeneity,but those classifications varie according to the author. Furthermore, in thecontext of global climate change, desertification is the most importantconsequence of human activities in arid Patagonia,and its main consequence is the loss of biodiversity. Darkling beetles areamong the most abundant, diverse and best known insects of this region, andthey are particularly suitable for monitoring environmental changes. In thiswork the structure and composition of tenebrionid beetles associations in themajors environmental units of northern arid Patagoniaare described. Also, the effects of anthropogenic desertification over thesebeetles in each environmental unit are evaluated. Six sites on eachenvironmental unit, three conserved and three desertified, were selected. Then anentomological survey into these selected sites was performed using pitfalltraps. The occurrence of thirty eight species, arranged in fifteen genera, sixtribes and two subfamilies, have been recorded. The most specious genus was Nyctelia Berthold with ten species. Thetwo most abundant species were Nycteliarotundipennis Fairmaire and Nyctelia unicostata Fairmaire. Also there were many rarespecies. The tenebrionid assemblages were different between environmentalunits. The most characteristic species were Letynoderesnordenskioldi Kulzer, Hylithus tentyroides (Lacordaire),Epitragus spp Latreille in Monte; Nycteliadorsata Fairmaire, Nyctelia latiplicata Kulzer, Nyctelia blapoides Fairmairein Distrito Central; Nyctelia rotundipennis,Nyctelia unicostata, Nyctelia fitzroyi Waterhouse, Emmallodera rugosa Silvestro & Flores in Sierras and Mesetas andPastizales Subandinos. Desertification produced alterations in tenebrionidspecies assemblages of all environmental units. These results have beenintegrated and their ecological outstanding are discussed.