Collembola Diversity across Vegetation Types of a Neotropical Island in a River Delta

• Published in: Diversity (Basel) Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 445
• Main Authors: Lima, Maria Geovana de Mesquita, da Silva, Bruna Maria, Nunes, Rudy Camilo, Marques, Alexandre de Oliveira, Medeiros, Gleyce da Silva, Freire, Fúlvio Aurélio de Morais, Silva, Clécio Danilo Dias da, Winck, Bruna, Bellini, Bruno Cavalcante
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; Availability; Collembola; Deltas; Distribution; Ecological research; Ecosystem assessment; Environmental aspects; Environmental factors; Environmental protection; Food; Food availability; Food plants; Food resources; Food security; Forests; Genera; Humidity; Leaf litter; mangrove; Organic matter; Rainy season; Redundancy; Resource availability; restinga; Riparian environments; Riparian forests; Riparian vegetation; Software; soil ecology; soil fauna; Soil moisture; Species diversity; Species richness; springtails; Taxonomy; Temperature; Terrestrial ecosystems; Vegetation; Vegetation dynamics; Vegetation type; Brazil
• ISSN: 1424-2818; 1424-2818
• DOI: 10.3390/d16080445

Springtails, vital for ecosystem assessment, are often overshadowed by taxonomy-focused research, which mostly neglects their ecology and distribution, particularly in the Neotropical Region. The objective of this study was to identify how environmental factors, especially vegetation types, affect the availability of food resources for epiedaphic Collembola and influence their diversity patterns in three vegetation types (riparian forest, mangrove, and restinga) in the Canárias Island, in Delta do Parnaíba Environmental Protection Area, Brazil (APADP). We collected samples along 200 m transects in each vegetation type during the dry and rainy seasons. After, specimens were sorted, counted and identified. Alpha (species richness, Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou indices) and beta diversity (Whittaker index) were analyzed, along with environmental factors’ influence through Redundancy Analysis (RDA). We sampled a total of 5346 specimens, belonging to three orders, eight families, 23 genera, 31 morphospecies, and one nominal species. Species abundance was positively influenced by soil moisture, plant richness, and leaf litter. The riparian forest sheltered a higher species richness and diversity, and its biotic and abiotic factors likely enhanced the food resource availability, including vegetal organic matter, fungi, and bacteria. These results provide the first taxonomic and ecological data on the Collembola fauna in the APADP.