Beetles sampled as part of a monitoring program of Oil Company activities in the western Amazon Basin were subsequently reinvestigated for testing â-diversity between two western Amazon rainforest sites located virtually on the equator at 21 kilometers distance from each other. The seven Coleopteran families studied were Buprestidae, Carabidae, Ceratocanthidae, Cleridae, Elateridae, Erotylidae, Tenebrionidae (Strongyliini). A total of 9065 adults representing 1242 morphospecies were collected from 600 + samples (9250 m2 surface area). All families except the Carabidae were adequately sampled for comparative purposes in 600 fogging events. The Carabidae required 1200 fogging events. Using various estimators, from the program EstimateS, all families were sampled virtually to their species accumulation curve asymptote, three of them to “all” species. A test of Complementarity resulted in values from .48 to .69 for the families, the species-rich families having the higher values. When viewed from a feeding guild perspective, no pattern emerged. These results suggest a markedly high degree of species turnover across a forest mosaic within short distances even in similar forests in the western Amazon Basin, which in turn suggests that a conservation strategy of a few large conservation areas may not preserve a large share of existing biodiversity. Probably, a new conservation paradigm is necessary if we are to protect much of Earth’s precious natural heritage.
Species 1: Coleoptera
Keywords: biodiversity, Amazonia
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