Description
The presented database is part of the LIFE BEETLES project which aims to conserve three species of endemic beetles that are not protected by the Habitats Directive: Tarphius floresensis Borges & Serrano, 2017, Pseudanchomenus aptinoides (Tarnier, 1860), and Trechus terrabravensis Borges, Serrano & Amorim, 2004. These species are single island endemics respectively from Flores, Pico, and Terceira. They are threatened by environmental degradation, facing the dual challenge of restricted distribution and habitat degradation. The study established a comprehensive database derived from a long-term arthropod monitoring survey that used SLAM (Sea, Land, Air, Malaise) traps and pitfall traps. Our findings present a proxy for assessing the overall habitat quality for endemic invertebrates, using arthropods as principal indicators. From September 2020 to June 2023, a total of 31 SLAM traps were monitored. The traps were set up as follows: seven in Flores (three in mixed forest and four in native forest), 10 in Pico Island (four in mixed forest and six in native forest), and 14 in Terceira (three in mixed forest and 11 in native forest). Traps installed in a mixed forest dominated by exotic species were monitored every six months, while traps installed within native forest fragments were monitored every three months. In addition, we employed 19 transects consisting of 15 non-attractive pitfall traps. The transects were set up during two weeks at the end of August every year between 2020 and 2023. Eight transects were established in Flores, consisting of one in pasture, four in mixed forest, and three in native forest. Six transects were established on Pico, consisting of two in pastures and four in native forest. Five transects were established in Terceira, consisting of two in mixed forest and three in native forest. A total of 243 arthropod taxa were recorded, with 207 identified at the species or subspecies level. These taxa belonged to four classes, 24 orders, and 101 families. Out of the 207 identified taxa, 46 were endemic, 60 were native non-endemic, 80 were introduced, and 21 were indeterminate. Habitat information is also provided, including general habitat and dominant species composition. This publication contributes to the conservation of highly threatened endemic beetles by assessing habitat quality based on arthropod communities and habitat description (e.g. native or exotic vegetation). Additionally, it provides an updated inventory of arthropods from Pico, Terceira, and Flores islands.
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 491 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 (2024). Monitoring arthropods under the scope of LIFE-BEETLES project – Baseline Data. Version 1.3. Universidade dos Açores. Samplingevent dataset. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=life_beetles&v=1.3
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: 72d2dc73-0a10-4e7a-adaa-cab3c440b937. 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; Arthropod; SLAM; Specimen
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Publisher ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8448-7623
- Originator
Geographic Coverage
Flores, Pico and Terceira Islands, Azores, (Portugal)
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [38.531, -31.252], North East [39.484, -26.923] |
|---|
Taxonomic Coverage
Classes: Arachnida, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Insecta Orders: Araneae, Blattodea, Julida, Coleoptera, Lithobiomorpha, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Pseudoscorpiones, Opiliones, Psocodea, Hymenoptera, Thysanoptera, Geophilomorpha, Archaeognatha, Polydesmida, Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Scolopendromorpha, Neuroptera, Trichoptera, Scutigeromorpha, Polyxenida, Chordeumatida, Phasmida
| Phylum | Arthropoda (Arthropods) |
|---|
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2020-07-10 / 2023-09-12 |
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Project Data
The presented database is part of the LIFE BEETLES project which aims to conserve three species of endemic beetles that are not protected by the Habitats Directive: Tarphius floresensis Borges & Serrano, 2017, Pseudanchomenus aptinoides (Tarnier, 1860), and Trechus terrabravensis Borges, Serrano & Amorim, 2004. These species are single island endemics respectively from Flores, Pico, and Terceira. They are threatened by environmental degradation, facing the dual challenge of restricted distribution and habitat degradation. The study established a comprehensive database derived from a long-term arthropod monitoring survey that used SLAM (Sea, Land, Air, Malaise) traps and pitfall traps. Our findings present a 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 BEETLES project |
|---|---|
| Identifier | LIFE BEETLES |
| Funding | Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Alterações Climáticas, Project LIFE BEETLES (LIFE18 NAT/PT/0008647); FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 DOI 10.54499/UIDB/00329/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/00329/2020) (Thematic Line 1 – integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity) |
| Study Area Description | Flores, Pico, and Terceira are three of the nine volcanic islands in the Azores archipelago. Flores, with an area of 142 km² and an elevation of 915 m a.m.s.l., belongs to the occidental group of the Azores archipelago, while Pico, with an area of 433 km² and an elevation of 2351 m a.m.s.l., and Terceira, with an area of 402 km² and an elevation of 1023 m a.m.s.l., belong to the central group. The sampling area consists of mixed and native forests. The main native and endemic species found in the area are Juniperus brevifolia, Ilex azorica, Laurus azorica, Erica azorica and Vaccinium cylindraceum. The exotic species found in the area are Pittosporum undulatum, Hedychium gardnerianum, and Eucalyptus globulus plantations. 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 | Two types of traps were used. Passive flight interception SLAM traps (Sea, Land and Air Malaise 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, Lhoumeau et al. 2022), 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, Lhoumeau and Borges 2023). The samples were collected every 90 consecutive days in native forest plot and every 180 consecutive days in mixed forest between September 2020 and March of 2023. Additionally, we collected epigean arthropods using pitfall traps for a minimum of two weeks during the summers of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. These traps have been shown to effectively sample the epigean arthropod fauna (Borges et al. 2005). The pitfall traps were plastic cups with a top diameter of 42 mm and a depth of 78 mm, placed in the ground so that the lip of the cup was level with the surface. Each transect was equipped with 15 traps spaced 5 m apart. Approximately 60 ml of a non-attractive solution (anti-freeze liquid) with a small proportion of ethylene glycol and a few drops of liquid detergent filled the traps. The traps were shielded from rain by a white plastic plate fixed to the ground with two pieces of wire, positioned about 5 cm above the surface. The arthropod samples were then taken to the laboratory and transferred to 96% ethanol. |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Author
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
Sampling Methods
Passive flight interception SLAM traps (Sea, Land and Air Malaise trap) were used to sample 31 selected sites between September 2020 and June 2023. 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, Lhoumeau et al. 2022), 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, Lhoumeau and Borges 2023). The samples were collected every 90 consecutive days in native forest plot and every 180 consecutive days in mixed forest between September 2020 and March of 2023. Additionally, we collected epigean arthropods using pitfall traps for a minimum of two weeks during the summers of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. These traps have been shown to effectively sample the epigean arthropod fauna (Borges et al. 2005). The pitfall traps were plastic cups with a top diameter of 42 mm and a depth of 78 mm, placed in the ground so that the lip of the cup was level with the surface. Each transect was equipped with 15 traps spaced 5 m apart. Approximately 60 ml of a non-attractive solution (anti-freeze liquid) with a small proportion of ethylene glycol and a few drops of liquid detergent filled the traps. The traps were shielded from rain by a white plastic plate fixed to the ground with two pieces of wire, positioned about 5 cm above the surface. The arthropod samples were then taken to the laboratory and transferred to 96% ethanol.
| Study Extent | A total of 45 sites were sampled in Flores, Pico and Terceira Islands. The sampling area consist on mixed-forests of endemic, native and exotic plant species and native forests. The main native and endemic species found in the area are Juniperus brevifolia, Ilex azorica, Laurus azorica, Erica azorica and Vaccinium cylindraceum. The exotic species found in the area are Pittosporum undulatum, Hedychium gardnerianum, and Eucalyptus globulus plantations |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | All sorted specimens were identified by a taxonomical expert in laboratory. |
Method step description:
- Each sample was meticulously labeled and stored, with archive samples remaining accessible for additional data verification and analysis.
Collection Data
| Collection Name | Entomoteca Dalberto Teixeira Pombo (DTP) |
|---|---|
| Collection Identifier | DTP |
| Specimen preservation methods | Alcohol |
|---|
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 72d2dc73-0a10-4e7a-adaa-cab3c440b937 |
|---|---|
| http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=life_beetles |