Description
The database we present is part of the LIFE SNAILS project (Support and Naturalization in Areas of Importance for Land Snails), which has the main aim of protect three species of terrestrial molluscs, two snails (Oxychilus agostinhoi and Leptaxis minor) and a semislug (Plutonia angulosa), which are endemic of Santa Maria Island, and whose populations are at high risk. In this study, we established a comprehensive database derived from a long-term arthropod monitoring campaign utilizing SLAM (Sea, Land, Air, Malaise) traps. While molluscs were not the focus, our findings present a credible proxy for assessing the overall habitat quality for endemic invertebrates, using arthropods as principal indicators. Between September and December of 2022, a total of 11 SLAM traps were installed and monitored monthly in eleven sites of mixed forests of Santa Maria Island. Based on the 33 available samples (11 sites x 3 months), we registered 94 identified taxa. A total of 21 species were endemic, 31 native non-endemic, 32 introduced and 10 indeterminate. This publication not only contributes to the conservation of highly threatened endemic molluscs, through an assessment of habitat quality based on arthropod communities and habitat description (e.g. native or exotic vegetation), but also provide an updated inventory of arthropods from Santa Maria Island.
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 33 records.
1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Borges P A V, Lhoumeau S, Moura N B, Ponte M, Abreu R, Lamelas-López L (2023). Monitoring arthropods under the scope of LIFE-Snails project – Baseline Data. Version 1.2. Universidade dos Açores. Samplingevent dataset. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=arthropods_slam_snails&v=1.2
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Universidade dos Açores. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 715e3b90-a68d-47a5-b676-a8428e1aaf3a. Universidade dos Açores publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Portugal.
Keywords
Occurrence; Azores; Endemic species; Index of Biotic Integrity; Long-term Monitoring; Macaronesia; Molluscs; SLAM; Specimen
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- User ●
- Point Of Contact
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8448-7623
- Originator
- Originator
- Originator
- Originator
- Originator
Geographic Coverage
Santa Maria Island, Azores, (Portugal)
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [-25.096, -25.05], North East [36.985, 36.963] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
Classes: Arachnida, Diplopoda, Insecta Orders: Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones, Julida, Archaeognatha, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Phasmida, Psocodea, Thysanoptera.
| Phylum | Arthropoda (Arthropods) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2022-09-26 / 2022-12-22 |
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Project Data
The database we present is part of the LIFE SNAILS project (Support and Naturalization in Areas of Importance for Land Snails), which has the main aim of protect three species of terrestrial molluscs, two snails (Oxychilus agostinhoi and Leptaxis minor) and a semislug (Plutonia angulosa), which are endemic of Santa Maria Island, and whose populations are at high risk. In this study, we established a comprehensive database derived from a long-term arthropod monitoring campaign utilizing SLAM (Sea, Land, Air, Malaise) traps. While molluscs were not the focus, our findings present a credible proxy for assessing the overall habitat quality for endemic invertebrates, using arthropods as principal indicators.
| Title | Baseline Arthropod monitoring for IBI calculation under the scope of LIFE SNAILS project |
|---|---|
| Identifier | SLAM - LIFE SNAILS |
| Funding | Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Alterações Climáticas, Project LIFE SNAILS (LIFE20 NAT/PT/001377 |
| Study Area Description | Santa Maria is a small island (area: 97.2 km²; elevation: 590 m a.s.l.) of volcanic origin, belongs to oriental group of Azores archipelago (36°58′24″N 25°05′40″W). The sampling area consist on mixed-forests of endemic, native and exotic plant species. The main native and endemic species include, Morella faya, Erica azorica, Picconia azorica, Vaccinium cylindraceum or Laurus azorica. The exotic species include Pittosporum undulatum, Hedychium gardnerianum and also forestry plantations of Cryptomeria japonica. The climate is temperate oceanic, with regular and abundant rainfall, high levels of relative humidity and persistent winds, mainly during the winter and autumn seasons |
| Design Description | Passive flight interception SLAM traps (Sea, Land and Air Malaise trap) were used to sample 11 sites located on mixed-forests of Santa Maria Island. This trap consists in a structure of 110x110x110 cm, where the trapped arthropods crawl up the mesh and then fall inside the sampling recipient (Borges et al. 2017). Each one is filled with propylene glycol (pure 1,2-PROPANODIOL) to kill the captured arthropods and conserve the sample between collections. Although this protocol was developed to sample flying arthropods, by working as an extension of the tree, non-flying species such as spiders can also crawl into the trap (Borges et al. 2017), enhancing the range of groups that can be sampled by this technique. Because of this, previous studies have used these traps to analyse diversity and abundance changes in the arthropod communities in Azores pristine forest sites (Matthews et al. 2019; Borges et al. 2020). The traps were installed during 30 consecutive days in three periods between September and December 2022, period after which samples were collected. Information of vegetation composition (dominant plant species in surrounding area) and elevation were recorded |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Author
- Author
- Author
- Author
- Author
Sampling Methods
Passive flight interception SLAM traps (Sea, Land and Air Malaise trap) were used to sample each of 11 selected sites on the mixed-forests of Santa Maria Island, between September and December of 2022. This trap consists in a structure of 110x110x110 cm, where the trapped arthropods crawl up the mesh and then fall inside the sampling recipient (Borges et al. 2017). Each one is filled with propylene glycol (pure 1,2-PROPANODIOL) to kill the captured arthropods and conserve the sample between collections. Although this protocol was developed to sample flying arthropods, by working as an extension of the tree, non-flying species such as spiders can also crawl into the trap (Borges et al. 2017), enhancing the range of groups that can be sampled by this technique. Because of this, previous studies have used these traps to analyse diversity and abundance changes in the arthropod communities in Azores pristine forest sites (Matthews et al. 2019; Borges et al. 2020). The traps were installed during 30 consecutive days, period after which samples were collected during a period of three months (September to December 2022).
| Study Extent | A total of 11 sites were sampled in Santa Maria Island. The sampling area consist on mixed-forests of endemic, native and exotic plant species. The main native and endemic species include, Morella faya, Erica azorica, Picconia azorica, Vaccinium cylindraceum or Laurus azorica. The exotic species include Pittosporum undulatum, Hedychium gardnerianum and also forestry plantations of Cryptomeria japonica. Information of vegetation composition (dominant plant species in surrounding area) was recorded |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | All sorted specimens were identified by a taxonomical expert in laboratory |
Method step description:
- A reference collection was made for all collected specimens (whether or not identified at species level) by assigning them a morphospecies code number and depositing them at the Dalberto Teixeira Pombo Insect Collection (DTP), University of Azores (Terceira Island).
Collection Data
| Collection Name | Entomoteca Dalberto Teixeira Pombo (DTP) |
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| Collection Identifier | DTP |
| Specimen preservation methods | Alcohol |
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Bibliographic Citations
- Borges, P.A.V., Pimentel, R., Carvalho, R., Nunes, R., Wallon, S. & Ros Prieto, A. (2017). Seasonal dynamics of arthropods in the humid native forests of Terceira Island (Azores). Arquipelago Life and Marine Sciences, 34: 105-122
- Borges, P.A.V., Rigal, F., Ros-Prieto, A. & Cardoso, P. (2020). Increase of insular exotic arthropod diversity is a fundamental dimension of the current biodiversity crisis. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 13: 508-518 DOI: 10.1111/icad.12431
- Matthews, T., Sadler, J.P., Carvalho, R., Nunes, R. & Borges, P.A.V. (2019). Differential turnover rates and temporal beta-diversity patterns of native and non-native arthropod species in a fragmented native forest landscape. Ecography, 42: 45–54 DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03812
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 715e3b90-a68d-47a5-b676-a8428e1aaf3a |
|---|---|
| http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=arthropods_slam_snails |