TY - JOUR
T1 - A fine-scale hotspot at the edge
T2 - Epigean arthropods from the atacama coast (paposo-taltal, antofagasta region, chile)
AU - Pizarro-Araya, Jaime
AU - Alfaro, Fermín M.
AU - Ojanguren-Affilastro, Andrés A.
AU - Moreira-Muñoz, Andrés
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by grants from the DIDULS PR2121210 and DIDULS PEQ-MEN212124 (J.P.-A.) projects of the University of La Serena, La Serena, Chile, to the funding of the Ministry of Education of Chile, through the MINEDUC performance agreement: Implementation of a competitive model of innovation and creation: preparing the University of La Serena for 2030, ULS19101 and the Integrated Forest Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring System (SIMEF), INFOR-IEB Agreement (J.P.-A.); PIP 2015-0672 (A.O.-A.). Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Fondecyt 1180211) (A.M.-M.) supported field work and biotic collections determinations.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by grants from the DIDULS PR2121210 and DIDULS PEQ-MEN212124 (J.P.-A.) projects of the University of La Serena, La Serena, Chile, to the funding of the Ministry of Education of Chile, through the MINEDUC performance agreement: Implementa-tion of a competitive model of innovation and creation: preparing the University of La Serena forWe are grateful to Mois?s Grimberg (Corporaci?n Nacional Forestal [CONAF]) for the authorization to collect, projects: numbers 006/2014, 028/2015, and 008/2017 (CONAF-SIMEF). Thanks to all the curators of institutional and private collections for providing specimens for study. We are grateful to Juan E. Barriga, Ricardo Botero-Trujillo, and Rodrigo Mu?oz, for their assistance in the field; to Alex Cea (University of La Serena) for providing botanical assistance, and to Luis Letelier (University of Talca) and Juan Huenuqueo (PUCV) for providing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support. We also thank fundacion-indomita.org for providing photographs of species habitats. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 2030, ULS19101 and the Integrated Forest Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring System (SIMEF), INFOR-IEB Agreement (J.P.-A.); PIP 2015-0672 (A.O.-A.). Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cient?fico y Tecnol?gico (Fondecyt 1180211) (A.M.-M.) supported field work and biotic collections determinations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - The Atacama Desert at its margins harbors a unique biodiversity that is still very poorly known, especially in coastal fog oases spanning from Perú towards the Atacama coast. An outstand-ing species-rich fog oasis is the latitudinal fringe Paposo-Taltal, that is considered an iconic site of the Lomas formation. This contribution is the first to reveal the knowledge on arthropods of this emblematic coastal section. We used pitfall traps to study the taxonomic composition, richness, and abundance of terrestrial arthropods in 17 sample sites along a 100 km section of the coast between 24.5 and 25.5 southern latitude, in a variety of characteristic habitats. From a total of 9154 individuals, we were able to identify 173 arthropod species grouped into 118 genera and 57 families. The most diverse group were insects, with 146 species grouped in 97 genera and 43 families, while arachnids were represented by 27 species grouped into 21 genera and 14 families. Current conservation challenges on a global scale are driving the creation and evaluation of potential conservation sites in regions with few protected areas, such as the margins of the Atacama Desert. Better taxonomic, distributional, and population knowledge is urgently needed to perform concrete conservation actions in a biodiversity hotspot at a desert edge.
AB - The Atacama Desert at its margins harbors a unique biodiversity that is still very poorly known, especially in coastal fog oases spanning from Perú towards the Atacama coast. An outstand-ing species-rich fog oasis is the latitudinal fringe Paposo-Taltal, that is considered an iconic site of the Lomas formation. This contribution is the first to reveal the knowledge on arthropods of this emblematic coastal section. We used pitfall traps to study the taxonomic composition, richness, and abundance of terrestrial arthropods in 17 sample sites along a 100 km section of the coast between 24.5 and 25.5 southern latitude, in a variety of characteristic habitats. From a total of 9154 individuals, we were able to identify 173 arthropod species grouped into 118 genera and 57 families. The most diverse group were insects, with 146 species grouped in 97 genera and 43 families, while arachnids were represented by 27 species grouped into 21 genera and 14 families. Current conservation challenges on a global scale are driving the creation and evaluation of potential conservation sites in regions with few protected areas, such as the margins of the Atacama Desert. Better taxonomic, distributional, and population knowledge is urgently needed to perform concrete conservation actions in a biodiversity hotspot at a desert edge.
KW - Arthropod diversity
KW - Coastal desert
KW - Fog oases
KW - Hidden diversity
KW - Homogenocene
KW - Insect declines
KW - Lomas formation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117285605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/insects12100916
DO - 10.3390/insects12100916
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117285605
VL - 12
JO - Insects
JF - Insects
SN - 2075-4450
IS - 10
M1 - 916
ER -