Habitat associations of Odonata in mountainous water sites in northeastern Portugal

2010·2.2 MB·English

by  Arnaldo, P

Odonatologica39(3):185-193 SeptemberI,2010
Habitatassociations ofOdonata
inmountainouswatersites
in northeasternPortugal
P.Arnaldo¹*’,J. Moreira²and I.Oliveira³
1Forestand LandscapeDepartment,UniversityofTras-os-Montes and AltoDouro,
PT-5000-911 Vila Real,Portugal
2 ColmusConsultores,LDA,ruaPonte daPedra406,Ed,AAAescritorioG,
PT-4470-108 Gueifaes,Maia,Portugal
3Mathematics Department,UniversityofTras-os-Montes andAltoDouro,
PT-5000-911 Vila Real,Portugal
ReceivedSeptember19,2008/ RevisedandAcceptedMay 12,2010
Atotalof 19spp.(9Zygopteraand 11Anisoptera)wasrecorded inasurveycarried
outat 28watersites located inthe AlvaoNaturalPark, NEPortugal. Multivariate
statistical procedureswereused toanalysetherelationshipbetween the spp. andthe
characteristics oftheirhabitat,inordertodetermine differentspp.biotopepreferenc-
es,Asidefrom spp.with unspecifichabitat requirements,2mainspeciesassemblages
couldbedetected.Enallagmacyathigerum,Sympetrumfonscolombeii,S.sanguineum,
Ischnurapumilio,Lestes virensandAnaximperatorpreferredpermanentwaterbodies
characterized byhightemperatures,while Calopteryxvirgo,Pyrrhosoma nymphula,
Cordulegasterboltonii and Onychogomphusuncatuspreferredsiteswith fast-flowing
watercharacterizedbylowandmoderatetemperatures.Conservation strategiesshould
takethese patternsand habitatrequirementsintoconsideration.
INTRODUCTION
Odonataare amongthe mostimportant andremarkablearthropods foundin
freshwaterhabitats. Withorigins spanningbacksome300millionyears,they are
theoldest knowninsects with closeto 6000species identifiedso far(ASKEW,
1988).However, manyspecies haveshownasignificant declineinEurope overthe
lastdecadeandthey are includedin redlists ofthreatenedspecies. Thedestruc-
tionofsuitablehabitats, as aconsequenceofhumanactivity, habitatfragmenta-
*Correspondingauthor: [email protected]
186 P.Arnaldo,J.Moreira& 1.Oliveira
tionandthe dryingupofsmallerfreshwaterecosystems are thecommon causes
ofdecline.Ecological studieshaverevealedthatOdonatapopulation surveyshave
beenrecognised as essentialtoolsintheecological assessmentofaquaticecosys-
tems,since dragonfliesarereliableindicatorsofbiotopehealth(CORBET, 1993;
CLARK& SAMWAYS, 1996,CHOVANEC & WARINGER,2001,SCHIN-
DLERetal.,2003). Odonatadistributiondepends onalargenumberofenviron-
mentalfactors(CORBET, 1999),andthecharacteristicsofthehabitatdetermines
which species will appearthere(HAWKING & NEW, 1999;GIBBONS etal.,
2002;CARCHINIetal,2005;HOFMANN& MASON,2005;ROUQUETTE &
THOMPSON,2005;SCHER & THIERY, 2005). Thus, theodonateabundance
anddistributionpatterns are aresult ofthe interactionbetweenthespecies con-
cerned, thephysicalparametersofthefreshwaterecosystems andtheinteraction
withotherlivingorganisms. Therelationship betweenOdonataandtheirhabitats
hasbeenshowntovarybetweendifferentgeographical andtopographical regions
(SAHLEN & EKESTUBBE,2001). In Portugal, several studies havesupplied
further information(SEABRA, 1942; AGUIAR & AGUIAR, 1985; MALK-
MUS,2002; BEKKER etal.. 2004; FERREIRA etal., 2005) and atotalof 65
species was so farrecorded (FERREIRA etal.,2006). However, field mapping
anddistributionstudiesare still intheirearly stages(FERREIRA etal.,2006).
Themaingoalofthepresentworkwas toanalyse therelationships betweenodo-
nate species recordedin themountainouswater sitesoftheAlvaoNatural Park
(NEPortugal) andtheselectedhabitatvariablesusing multivariateanalysis. This
couldhelp to explain thestatusandbiodiversity observedin the Parkand help
in theirfuturemanagement.
Fig. 1.Amap ofthe AlvaoNaturalPark showingthe28samplingsites.
Habitatassociations ofOdonatain NEPortugal 187
MATERIALAND METHODS
STUDY SITEANDMETHODS. - This surveywasconducted on28watersiteslocated inthe
AlvaoNatural Park,in northeastern Portugal(Fig. 1)where thegeographicallocation andaltitude
ofeach site wererecorded. From May2006toSeptember2006,each site wassampledthree times,
when alsothephysicalparameters,such aspH,watertemperatureanddissolved oxygenweremeas-
uredand averagevalueswerecalculated. Inaddition,thesiteparameterswerealsorecorded; thedis-
tanceofthemargins,withadistanceof<lm betweenmarginsclassedas(1)and>Imclassedas(2);
thepresence offloatingvegetationwasregisteredas(1)withvegetationand (2)without vegetation;
thepresence ofexposedrocks registeredas(1)with rocksand (2)withoutrocks; theuseofadjacent
landwasclassified as(1)agriculturaluse,(2)forestand(3)uncultivated;and thewaterflowclassified
as(1)fast-flowingwaterand(2)slow-flowingwater andpermanentbodies ofwater.
The odonate assessment was performedonsunny daysbetween 10:00 and 16:00h,when most
species wereactive. Theadults werecaughtand the speciesidentified usingASKEW(2004)and
D’AGUILAR &DOMMANGET(1998).Theoccurrenceestimateswererankedwithin atwo-class
system(0= absentand1 =present)and abundance estimateswererankedwithinafive-classsystem:
D= dominant(>21individuals),A=abundant(11-20individuals),C=common(6-10individuals),
O=occasional (2-5individuals)and R=rare(1 individual).
DATAANALYSIS.— Thespecimenswere separatedpersuborder andfamilies. Aclusteranaly-
siswasperformedinordertogroup27outofthe28study sitesonthe basisoftheirenvironmental
characteristics (atsite23 the environmental physical parameterscould notbe measured).For the
Fig. 2.Clusteranalysisclassification of27studysitesbasedontheselected environmental variables.
SquaredEuclidean distanceand linkagerule:Ward’smethod).— [I-III:clusters; - A-F:groups].
188 P,Amaldo,J.Moreira& I.Oliveira
2288 R RR RR
COR 27;
2277 O RR R R RR
RR RR 15,25,
2266 C RR R R
2,
2255 0O OO RR
localities
2244 OO OO R OO RR OO OO
rare OR
2233 O R
(R) D:
2222 RR O RORRR RR group
occasional,
2211 OO OO o c o
ROROCO
19,22,
2200 OO RR C O R
COOOCO
(O) 1199 o R 14--,
11,
common, 1188 OO o o o
10,
1177 O R R
RR
localities
(C) 1166 C CO R
abundant, 1155 OO C:
1144 O RR group
DQOO
(A) 1133 00.,00 O CO RR,.CC 00,.00 RR
II,
OOO
dominant, 1122 O D RR RR Cluster
TIable I1I1 00,,00 OO O 00,.00 C RR OO AA RR
1100 D RR
(D) 17;
99 AACAD 7,
sites: 6, 12.
88 O C 1,3,8,
study 5,
77 COOOOO A 4,
the localities
66 O CA.O,A0.O OO RR.R.R localities
at
status 55 O C,0 RR B:
44 C CC groupF:
their group
33 OO
21,
and
22 DD O0.,CC RR AA,D,D 20,28,
occurrence 11 OO 18,26,
16,24,
13,9,
Species localities
localities
hhaaeemmoorrrrhhooiiddaalliiss
aaccuuttiippeennnniiss ccyyaatthhiiggeerruumm nnyymmpphhuulala uunnccaattuuss bhoolltloonniiii ccooeerruulleesscceennss ffoonnssccoolloommbbiiii
E:
llaattiippeess ppuummiilliioo ccuurrttiissiiii ddeepprreessssaa A: group
PlaPtlyactnycenmeimdididaideaePPllaattyyccnneemmiissPPllaattyyccnneemmiissCCooeennaaggrriioonniiddaaeeEEnnaallllaaggmmaaIIsscchhnnuurraaPPyyrrrrhhoossssoommaaLLeessttididaaee LLevvesiisrrtteeeennssssCaCloaploteprtyegryidgaideaeCCalaolpotpetreyrxyxvviirrggooxxaanntthhoossttoommaaAAeesshhnnididaeae AAeesccshyyhnaanannaeeaaAAiimmnnppaaeerrxxaattoorrBBIirrooeeyynneeeerriiaa GGoommpphhiiddaaeeOnOycnhyochgoogmopmhpuhsusCCoorrdduulleeggaassttrriiddaaeeCCoorrdduulleeggaasstleerrCCoorrdduullildliadeae OOxxyyggaassttrraaLLiibbeelllluulliiddaaee LLiibheelllluullaa OOrrtthheettrruumm SySmympepterutrmumssaanngguuiinneeuumm IClug,srtoeurpICIlusIte,r
CC. CC.. SS..
Habitatassociations ofOdonata inNE Portugal 189
analysis.SquaredEuclidean distanceandWard’smethodwereused tomeasuredistanceandlinkage
rule,respectively.Floatingvegetationwasnotused asaclustervariable becauseitoccurredinallsites
studied.
Inordertofind anypossiblerelationshipsbetweenspeciesoccurrenceandtheenvironmental vari-
ables,theCategoricalPrincipal ComponentAnalysis(CAT-PCA)wasperformed,inwhichthepres-
ence/absencematrixofspeciesand habitatvariables such aswaterflow,theuseofadjacentland,dis-
tance ofmargins,exposedrocks andcategorizedwatertemperature,pH, dissolved oxygen and the
altitudewereused. Abiplotscalingwaschosen forgraphicaloutputs.Allthecalculations wereper-
formedusingSPSS,version 13.
RESULTS
Atotalof 19 species wererecorded(Tab. I).Thestatusofspecies assessment
ranged fromdominant(D)torare(R). DominancewasobservedlocallyforEnal-
lagmacyathigerum, Calopteryx virgoandSympetrumfonscolombii whichhadmore
than21 individualsrecorded.
C. virgowas themostwidelyobservedspecies, recordedfrom22sites, followed
by Cordulegaster boltoniiand Onychogomphus uncatus,whichwere present at 15
and 12sites, respectively.
Thecluster analysisof habitatstructure,based ontheselected environmental
variables, resultedin threemainclusterswithtwo groupseach(Fig. 2).Clusters
I andIIcomprised siteswitha high pH whileclusterIII includedsites withlow
pH. ThemaindifferencebetweenclusterI andII was the useofadjacent land,
withagriculture andforestsites forclusterIanduncultivatedsitesforclusterII.
FromclusterI, groupsAand Bcomprised sites withbothfast-flowing andlim-
pid water andpresenceofrocks, whilewater temperatureanddissolvedoxygen
levelswere higheringroupA. FromclusterII, groupsCandD weremadeupof
siteswitha highwatertemperatureandhighlevelsofdissolvedoxygen,withboth
fast-flowing andlimpid water sites in groupCand permanentbodiesofwater
ingroupD.FromclusterIII, groupsEand Fcomprised siteswithlowlevelsof
dissolvedoxygen. Group Ewerealso madeupofsites withmoderatewater tem-
peraturewhilegroupF comprised siteswithfast-flowing andlimpid water sites,
low temperatureandadjacent marginsused foragriculture.
TheCat-PCAordinationresultedinthreeinitialaxesthatexplain21%, 15%and
12% ofthe species/environment relationship, respectively. Thereliability ofthe
axeswas given by Cronbach’sAlpha andshowsvalueshigher than0.7(Tab. II).
Table II
Summarystatistics oftheCategoricalPrincipalComponentAnalysis(Cat-PCA)
Axes 1 2 3 Total
Eigenvalues 5.709 4.109 3.360 13.259
Cumulativepercentagevariance 21.14 36.56 49.00
Cronbach’s Alpha 0.857 0.791 0.729 0.96
190 P.Amaldo,J.Moreira &I.Oliveira
The water flow, the
dissolved oxygen, the
pH, the altitude and
thewatertemperature
were the majorenvi-
ronmentalfactorsthat
affected the distribu-
tionofOdonata(Tab.
III).Thefirsttwo axes
indicatethatenviron-
mental variablesand
species (Figs 3a, 3b)
wererelated, withthe
cluster sites defined
by the above cluster
analysis (Fig. 2). In
the first axis,altitude
and water tempera-
ture plotted against
water flow created
threemaingroups(D,
E, F) (Fig. 4). Group
D is characterizedby
the occurrence of E.
cyathigerum, S. fon-
scolombii, I. pumil-
io, L. virens and A.
imperator. Group F
runs along the nega-
tive part of the first
axis withC. virgoand
P. nymphulaoccurring
inallthesites studied,
while C. boltoniiand
Fig. 3.CategoricalPCA biplot of:(A) environmental variables,and O. uncatus occurred
(B)presence/absenceofspecies atthe 28studysites.— [Fortheenvi- atleast atonesite. In
ronmental variables andspecies codes,seeTableIII]
the second axis, the
dissolvedoxygenandthepH plotted againstthealtitudecreate two maingroups
(A and E)(Fig. 4). Group A is characterized by the occurrence of C. virgo in
all the sites. C. boltoniiand O. uncatus occurredat fourof the five sites whileP.
acutipennis andC. haemorrhoidalisoccurred mainly atthelowestaltitudesites.
Group Eis characterizedby theoccurrence ofS. sanguineum, A. cyanea(aspe-
Habitatassociations ofOdonatain NE Portugal 191
ciesthatonlyoccurred inthis group) andI.pumilio andL. virens. Theotherspe-
ciesrecordedexhibited unspecific habitatrequirements.
DISCUSSION
In this study, atotalof 19Odonataspecies was recorded. Inthe same area,
previous studieshadshowndifferentresults witha totalof 18,22and 10species
beingrecordedby MALKMUS(2002), BEKKER etal.(2004)andFERREIRA
etal.(2005) respectively. Calopteryx virgo was themostwidely occurring species
intheAlvaoNaturalPark, recordedfrom22sites andwasthe dominantspecies
there. C. boltoniiandO. uncatuswerepresentat 15and 12studysites, respective-
ly.
TableIII
Componentloadingsbetween aquaticenvironmental variables and Odonata species with the first
three axesoftheCat-PCA
VVaarriiaabblleess CCooddeess LLooaaddiinnggss VVaarriiaabbllee//ccoommppoonneenntt
AAxxiiss 11 AAxxiiss 22 AAxxiiss33
TTeemmppeerraattuurree TT 00,,5566 00,,5588 --00,,0055
pPHH pPHH --00,,1155 00,,7744 --00,,3399
DDiissssoollvveedd ooxxyyggeenn OOXX --00,,0088 00,,7788 --00,,1144
AAllttiittuuddee AALLTT 00,,6622 --00,,4411 --00,,2200
EExxppoosseeddrroocckkss EERR 00,,5511 --00,,3333 --00,,0099
FFllooww FF --00,,8800 --00,,1144 00,,0033
DDiissttaannccee ooffmmaarrggiinnss DDMM 00,,2299 00,,4433 00,,2233
UUsseeooffaaddjjaacceennttllaanndd UULL 00,,4466 00,,4444 --00,,0033
PPllaattyyccnneemmiissaaccuuttiippeennnniiss PPaa --00,,3377 00,,3344 00,,3322
PPllaattyyccnneemmiissllaattiippeess PPtt --00,,2200 00,,3355 00,,7755
EEnnaallllaaggmmaaccyyaatthhiiggeerruumm EEcc 00,,3399 00,,4455 --00,,2200
Ihscchhnnuurraappuummiilliioo I>pP 00,,7777 --00,,1144 00,,2200
PPyyrrrrhhoossssoommaannyymmpphhuullaa PPnn --00,,4455 --00,,3344 00,,2222
LLeesstteessvviirreennss LLvv 00,,7777 --00,,1144 00,,2200
CCaalloopptteerryyxxhhaaeemmoorrrrhhooiiddaalliiss CChh --00,,1188 00,,4433 --00,,2200
CCaalloopptteerryyxxvviirrggoo CCvv --00,,4422 --00,,3366 00,,3333
CCaalloopptteerryyxxxxaanntthhoossttoommaa CCxx --00,,2200 00,,3344 00,,6644
AAeesshhnnaaccyyaanneeaa AAcc 00,,5511 --00,,4411 00,,3377
AAnnaaxx iimmppeerraattoorr AAii 00,,5522 00,,3300 00,,5577
BBooyyeerriiaaiIrreennee BBii 00,,0033 00,,0000 00,,5500
OOnnyycchhooggoommpphhuussumnecaattuuss OOuu --00,,4411 00,,4455 00,,2211
CCoorrdduulleeggaasstteerrbboollttoonniiii CCbb --00,,3377 00,,1111 --00,,3355
OOxxyyggaassttrraaccuurrttiissiiii OOXXcc --00,,1155 00,,3311 00,,7788
LLiibbeelllluullaa ddeepprreessssaa LLdd 00,,3399 00,,4455 --00,,2200
OOrrtthheettrruummccooeerruulleesscceennss OOcc 00,,3355 00,,0022 00,,0022
SSyymmppeettrruummffoonnssccoolloommbbeeiiii SSff 00,,5555 00,,3399 --00,,2200
SSyymmppeettrruummssaanngguuiinneeuumm SSss 00,,6633 --00,,2277 00,,3366
192 P.Amaldo,J.Moreira&I.Oliveira
Theresultsshowed
differentdistribution
patterns across the
study sites. Habitat
requirements of the
species recorded, as
obtainedby Cat-PCA
analysis, show that
water flow, dissolved
oxygen, pH, altitude
and water tempera-
ture were the major
factors that affected
the distribution. Pre-
vious studies on the
relationship between
Fig. 4.Axes 1 and2 ofthe Cat-PCAfortheenvironmental variables Odonata species and
andpresence/absenceofspecies atthestudy sites.— [Thesites arein- habitatstructure have
dicatedbygroupletterandlocalitynumbers]
shownvaryingresults.
Thereis stillnoagreementas towhichhabitatvariablesshouldbeconsideredand,
becausedifferentdataanalyses wereused,comparing theresultsof differentstud-
iesis not easy. Theresults obtainedin thispresent study were inline withthose
describedinthe literature(CLARK & SAMWAYS, 1996;SCHINDLER etal„
2003),whichpointoutthatwaterpermanencyandflowrateareamongthedeter-
minantfactorsintheformationofOdonataassemblages. Thelatterauthorsalso
consideredthefloating macrophytes as animportant factor.Theimportance of
macrophyte coverageof the pond surfacewas alsoobserved by CARCHINIet
al. (2005). However, thishabitatvariablecouldnotbeused inthepresentstudy,
sincefloatingvegetation was present atallthesites studied.
Through the results obtainedby Cat-PCA ordination, two main species as-
semblages couldbe detected.Species such as E. cyathigerum, S. fonscolombeii,
S.sanguineum, I.pumilio, L. virensandA. imperatorpreferred permanentbodies
ofwater, characterizedby highwatertemperatures, while C. virgo,P. nymphula,
C. boltoniiand O. uncatus preferred sites withfast-flowing water, characterized
by low andmoderate temperatures.Withinthis habitattype,P. acutipennis and
C. haemorrhoidalisoccurred mainly atthelowestaltitudesites. Thehabitatpref-
erences ofthese are in line with the literature(ASKEW. 1988; HOFMANN &
MASON.2005).
TheidentificationofOdonataassociations, and theknowledge on habitatre-
quirementsof thespecies couldrepresentanimportantbasis forthewetlandsite
conservationandmanagement.
Habitatassociations ofOdonatain NEPortugal 193
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