Search results for "odonata"

Regional variations in occupancy frequency distributions patterns between odonate assemblages in Fennoscandia

2018

Odonate (damselfly and dragonfly) species richness and species occupancy frequency distributions (SOFD) were analysed in relation to geographical location in standing waters (lakes and ponds) in Fennoscandia, from southern Sweden to central Finland. In total, 46 dragonfly and damselfly species were recorded from 292 waterbodies. Species richness decreased to the north and increased with waterbody area in central Finland, but not in southern Finland or in Sweden. Species occupancy ranged from 1 up to 209 lakes and ponds. Over 50% of the species occurred in less than 10% of the waterbodies, although this proportion decreased to the north. In the southern lakes and ponds, none of the species o…

Impact of landscape on spatial genetic structure and diversity ofCoenagrion mercuriale(Zygoptera:Coenagrionidae) in northern France

2015

AbstractLoss and fragmentation of habitat is a current main cause of biodiversity loss in freshwater habitats. Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) depend on these habitats to complete their development. Fragmentation may be a particular threat for odonates because it generates a network of small habitat patches within which populations could suffer from isolation and loss of genetic diversity. The southern damselfly Coenagrion mercuriale is categorized on the IUCN red list as Near Threatened, largely because of population fragmentation and demographic declines associated with changes in land use. Small populations at the margin of this species’ range are of particular concern because the…

Intraguild predation and interference competition on the endangered dragonfly Aeshna viridis

2003

We examined the effects of intraguild predation (IGP) and interference competition on an endangered dragonfly, Aeshna viridis Eversm. (Odonata: Anisoptera). A. viridis is rare in Europe due to the decrease in suitable habitats harboring the macrophyte Stratiotes aloides L. Stratiotes plants are the principal oviposition substrate for A. viridis females and protect the larvae of A. viridis from fish predation. In our study lakes A. viridis larvae are sympatric with larvae of Aeshna grandis and Aeshna juncea. The susceptibility of A. viridis larvae to IGP by similar-sized larvae of A. grandis and A. juncea was tested in a laboratory predation experiment. Microhabitat use of A. viridis and A. …

Interactions and patterns between species diversity and genetic diversity

2015

Italian Odonates in the Pandora’s Box: A Comprehensive DNA Barcoding Inventory Shows Taxonomic Warnings at the Holarctic Scale

2020

AbstractThe Odonata are considered among the most endangered freshwater faunal taxa. Their DNA-based monitoring relies on validated reference datasets that are often lacking or do not cover important biogeographical centres of diversification. This study presents the results of a DNA barcoding campaign on Odonata, based on the standard 658 bp 5’ end region of the mitochondrial COI gene, involving the collection of 812 specimens (409 of which barcoded) from peninsular Italy and its main islands (328 localities), belonging to all the 88 species (31 Zygoptera and 57 Anisoptera) known from the country. Additional BOLD and GenBank data from Holarctic samples expanded the dataset to 1294 DNA barc…

The genus Sympetrum Newmann, 1833 (Odonata Libellulidae)

2020

The genus Sympetrum Newmann, 1833 (Odonata Libellulidae)

The effect of peatland drainage and restoration on Odonata species richness and abundance

2015

Background Restoration aims at reversing the trend of habitat degradation, the major threat to biodiversity. In Finland, more than half of the original peatland area has been drained, and during recent years, restoration of some of the drained peatlands has been accomplished. Short-term effects of the restoration on peatland hydrology, chemistry and vegetation are promising but little is known about how other species groups apart from vascular plants and bryophytes respond to restoration efforts. Results Here, we studied how abundance and species richness of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) respond to restoration. We sampled larvae in three sites (restored, drained, pristine) on each o…

Farmland versus forest: comparing changes in Odonata species composition in western and eastern Sweden

2013

Despite the loss of natural ecosystems in the developed world dur- ing the past millennia, anthropogenic landscapes still sustain much biodiversity. Our question was, whether ten year changes in regional Odonata faunas are comparable between farmland and forested areas, or if the species pool of farm- land areas respond in other ways than that of forest. 2. We used data of dragonfly larvae collected from 16 lakes in a farmland area in south-western Sweden in the years 2002 and 2011/12, and compared these to data from 34 lakes in a forest area in south-eastern Sweden in the years 1996 and 2006. 3. The species-richness in the agricultural region increased by 17% but decreased by 13% in the fo…

Natural selection mediated by seasonal time constraints increases the alignment between evolvability and developmental plasticity

2021

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity can either hinder or promote adaptation to novel environments. Recent studies that have quantified alignments between plasticity, genetic variation, and divergence propose that such alignments may reflect constraints that bias future evolutionary trajectories. Here, we emphasize that such alignments may themselves be a result of natural selection and do not necessarily indicate constraints on adaptation. We estimated developmental plasticity and broad sense genetic covariance matrices (G) among damselfly populations situated along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. Damselflies were reared at photoperiod treatments that simulated the seasonal time constraints ex…

Immunocompetence and resource holding potential in the damselfly, Calopteryx virgo L

2004

It is generally believed that resource holding potential reliably reflects male quality, but empirical evidence showing this is scarce. Here we show that the outcome of male-male competition may predict male immunocompetence in the territorial damselfly, Calopteryx virgo (Odonata: Calopterygidae). We staged contests between 27 pairs of males and found that winners of the contests showed higher immunocompetence, measured as encapsulation response, compared with that of losers. Furthermore, the winners had larger fat reserves. We also collected 29 males that had not been used in staged contests, and found that in these males encapsulation response correlated positively with an individual’s fa…