title: Contributions of Dryland Forest (Caatinga) to Species Composition, Richness and Diversity of Drosophilidae.
abstract: In this study, semi-arid environments were tested to see if they support insect diversity. This was evaluated through the structure of the composition of assemblies of drosophilids in three conservation units placed in three different ecoregions in the dryland forests, Caatinga. This is a unique biome in northeast Brazil, comprising approximately 10% of the country. Species richness was investigated over 2 years during a prolonged drought, considered the worst affliction the Caatinga ecosystem had experienced in the last 50 years. Alpha diversity indices and the ecological similarity between the samples were calculated to determine how the environments drive the composition of Drosophilidae in such semi-arid places. A total of 7352 specimens were sampled. They were classified into 20 species belonging to four genera: Drosophila, Rhinoleucophenga, Scaptodrosophila, and Zaprionus. Drosophila nebulosa Sturtevant (44.5%) and Drosophila cardini Sturtevant (12.5%) were the most abundant species. The occurrences and abundances of all the species differed greatly between sites. These results and other ecological analyses indicate that although placed in the same biome, there are great variability in the drosophilid species and abundance among the three protected and conserved dryland environments.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Univ Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Lab de Genética, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória, Univ Federal de Pernambuco, Rua do Alto do Reservatório s/n, Bairro Bela Vista, CEP 55608-680, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brasil. claudia.rohde@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.affiliation: Lab de Genética, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória, Univ Federal de Pernambuco, Rua do Alto do Reservatório s/n, Bairro Bela Vista, CEP 55608-680, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: A C L
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Depto de Biologia, Univ Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Montes
authors.affiliation: Lab de Drosophila, Depto de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Univ Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: V L S
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Valente
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001938:Brazil; D004330:Drosophila; D018428:Drosophilidae; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests
keywords: Brazilian semi-arid; Neotropical region; conservation units; drosophilids