TY - JOUR T1 - Ecosystem disturbances and diversity increase: implications for invertebrate conservation JF - Biodiversity and Conservation Y1 - 2006 A1 - Loyola, Rafael Dias A1 - Brito, Sofia-Luiza A1 - Lopes Ferreira, Rodrigo SP - 25 EP - 42 KW - conservation KW - diversity KW - Ecosystem disturbances KW - Management KW - Neotropics KW - pantanal KW - Soil Arthropods AB - Abstract. The Pantanal is one of the faunistic provinces considered as a priority area for inverte- brate conservation. However, it is one of the areas in Brazil where the local fauna is less assessed, thus needing more scientific information that could allow political decisions to be made regarding conservation. The continuous pressure for new pasture areas leads to improper habitat occupation and destruction, like fragmentation of forest areas in the region. Such alterations can cause different impacts on the local fauna, including the soil arthropods. The main objective of this work was to compare the morphospecies composition, diversity and density of the soil arthropod fauna between a secondary single species forest (Cambarazal) and a cultivated pasture with exotic and native grass species, using only pitfall traps as sampling method. We found a great variation on the vegetal cover among environments. A higher humidity in the forest soil was observed, as well as a greater com- paction of the soil in the cultivated pasture. A total of 3635 individuals were collected, belonging to 214 different morphospecies. 139 morphospecies were collected in the forest (37% exclusive to this environment), while 134 morphospecies were collected in the cultivated pasture (35% exclusive). The diversity was higher in the forest (H¢ = 1.634) than in the cultivated pasture (H¢ = 1.253). How- ever, considering the area as a whole (forest and pasture) the global diversity was increased. In this paper we discuss about the effects of environmental changes on soil arthropod diversity and propose a hypothetical model for invertebrate management in mosaic ecosystems. VL - 15 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Coleoptera associated with undisturbed cow pats in pastures in southeastern Brazil JF - Neotropical Entomology Y1 - 2006 A1 - Mendes, Julio A1 - Linhares, A. X. SP - 715 EP - 723 KW - biological control KW - cattle dung KW - diversity KW - dung beetle AB - Coleoptera associated to undisturbed cattle droppings in pastures present great diversity and abundance. Several species are of primary veterinary importance for they may act as natural enemies of pest insects that breed in this habitat. To survey the diversity and abundance of Coleoptera associated to undisturbed cattle droppings, four undisturbed cattle dung pats naturally dropped in pastures and 5 cm of the soil immediately beneath them were collected almost allweekly from april 1992 to april 1994 in a farm located in the vicinity of São Carlos, State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Beetles were collected from the pats both using Berlese funnels and by allowing the beetles to emerge for 30 to 40 days. A total of 24,332 specimens belonging to 13 beetle families and at least 66 species were identifi ed. The most abundant and diverse families were Aphodiidae, Staphylinidae and Scarabaeidae. In general, the Coleoptera were more abundant in the warmer and wet period, from October to March, with a few exceptions. The importance of the beetles, both as horn fl y natural enemies and as cattle dung decaying agents, is discussed. VL - 35 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Composicao e diversidade de Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) atraidos por armadilha de luz em area rural no norte do Parana, Brasil JF - Iheringia, Servicio Zoologico do Porto Alegre Y1 - 2006 A1 - Ronqui, Daniele C. A1 - Lopes, Jose SP - 103 EP - 108 KW - diversity KW - light trap. KW - rural area KW - Scarabaeidae AB - The most devastated environments in the State of Paraná are those with great agricultural potential, and most human interference actions on the environment are seldom preceded by a careful study of the fauna, which would reveal the diversity and abundance of animals in these areas. This study aimed to describe the Scarabaeoidea fauna attracted by light traps in rural areas of the Tamarana County, Paraná, Brazil, and to contribute to the ecological knowledge on species of this group. The sampling was carried out quarterly, from March 2002 to April 2003, in two rural properties, using a modified “Luiz de Queiroz” light trap. The light traps captured 2447 specimens, distributed into 10 families, 24 genera and 67 species. The three most abundant species were also the most frequent: Aphodius lividus (Olivier, 1789), Melolonthidae sp. 1 e Ataenius sp. 5. The highest A. lividus population density occurred in April, fall season, whereas Melolonthidae sp. 1 and Ataeucus were most frequently found in Octubre and November, spring. The majority of the species were represented by few individuals (H’= 1,74), and the distribution of individuals species was relatively uniform (J’= 0,95; S=0,20). A large number of families was recorded, and they were represented by few individuals. There was a predominance of families of detritivores - Aphodiidae, Scarabaeidae, Hybosoridae and phytophagus - Melolonthidae, Dynastidae and Rutilidae. The study collected 25 detritivore species among the 1422 specimen recorded. VL - 96 ER -