Systematic challenges and opportunities in insect monitoring: a Global South perspective

Insect monitoring is pivotal for assessing biodiversity and informing conservation strategies. This study delves into the complex realm of insect monitoring in the Global South—world developing and least-developed countries as identified by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development—highlighting challenges and proposing strategic solutions. An analysis of publications from 1990 to 2024 reveals an imbalance in research contributions between the Global North and South, highlighting disparities in entomological research and the scarcity of taxonomic expertise in the Global South. We discuss the socio-economic factors that exacerbate the issues, including funding disparities, challenges in collaboration, infrastructure deficits, information technology obstacles and the impact of local currency devaluation. In addition, we emphasize the crucial role of environmental factors in shaping insect diversity, particularly in tropical regions facing multiple challenges including climate change, urbanization, pollution and various anthropogenic activities. We also stress the need for entomologists to advocate for ecosystem services provided by insects in addressing environmental issues. To enhance monitoring capacity, we propose strategies such as community engagement, outreach programmes and cultural activities to instill biodiversity appreciation. Further, language inclusivity and social media use are emphasized for effective communication. More collaborations with Global North counterparts, particularly in areas of molecular biology and remote sensing, are suggested for technological advancements. In conclusion, advocating for these strategies—global collaborations, a diverse entomological community and the integration of transverse disciplines—aims to address challenges and foster inclusive, sustainable insect monitoring in the Global South, contributing significantly to biodiversity conservation and overall ecosystem health

Macro-scale (biomes) differences in neotropical stream processes and community structure

The definition of conservation strategies and ecological assessment schemes requires understanding ecosystem patterns over multiple spatial scales. This study aimed to determine if macro-scale structural and functional (processes) patterns associated with stream ecosystems differed among three neotropical biomes (Cerrado, Amazon, Atlantic Forest). We compared the aquatic communities (benthic invertebrates and hyphomycetes) and processes (decomposition rates, primary production and biofilms growth and aquatic hyphomycetes reproduction rates-sporulation) of Cerrado stream sites (neotropical savannah) against those of stream sites in the connecting biomes of the Atlantic Forest and Amazon (rainforests). We expected that, contrary to the biome dependency hypothesis the community structure and processes rates of streams at the biome-scale would not differ significantly, because those ecosystems are strongly influenced by their dense riparian forests, which have a transitional character among the three biomes. Fifty-three stream sites were selected covering a wide range of geographic locations (Table 1), from near the Equator (2° S) in the Amazon, to intermediate latitudes in the Cerrado (12-19° S), and latitudes closer to the tropic of Capricorn in the Atlantic Forest (19º-25° S). We found that: 1) at the abiotic level, the aquatic ecosystems of the three biomes differed, which was mostly explained by large-scale factors such as temperature, precipitation and altitude; 2) functional and structural variables did not behave similarly among biomes: decomposition and sporulation rates showed larger differences among biomes than invertebrate and aquatic hyphomycete assemblages structure; 3) invertebrate assemblages structure differed between the rainforests and Cerrado but not between rainforests (Amazon and Atlantic Forest) whereas aquatic hyphomycetes were similar among all biomes; 4) biofilm growth and algae concentration in biofilms of artificial substrates were highly variable within biomes and not significantly different between biomes. Overall, aquatic ecosystem processes and community structure differed across biomes, being influenced by climatic variables, but the variation is not as pronounced as that described for terrestrial systems. Considering the potential use of these functional and structural indicators in national-wide ecological assessments, our results indicate the need to define different reference values for different biomes, depending on the variable used. The approach followed in this study allowed an integrative analysis and comparison of the stream ecosystems across three tropical biomes, being the first study of this kind. Future studies should try to confirm the patterns evidenced here with more sites from other areas of the three biomes, and especially from the Amazon, which was the least represented biome in our investigation. © 201

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Uma nova espécie de Notalina Mosely, 1936 (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) proveniente do Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros, Goiás, Brasil

The endemic Neotropical long-horned caddisfly subgenus Notalina (Neonotalina) Holzenthal contains nine described species in two species groups, the brasiliana and roraima groups, from the Brazilian Southeastern and Amazonian regions, respectively. In this paper, a new species of Notalina in the brasiliana species group, from Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Goiás state, Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species is easily recognized by the following character set: presence of two pairs of processes on abdominal segment X; presence of well-developed basoventral protuberances, mesally directed in ventral view; presence of triangle-shaped, acuminated mesoventral process on the inferior appendages; and phallic apparatus with flanges slightly curved in dorsal view, not laterally directed.O subgênero neotropical Notalina (Neonotalina) Holzenthal contém nove espécies descritas em dois grupos de espécies, brasiliana e roraima, provenientes do Sudeste brasileiro e da região Amazônica, respectivamente. Neste artigo, uma nova espécie de Notalina é descrita e ilustrada a partir de espécimes colecionados no Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros, Goiás, Brasil. A nova espécie é facilmente diagnosticada pelo seguinte conjunto de caracteres: presença de dois pares de processos no segmento abdominal X; presença de protuberâncias basoventrais bem desenvolvidas, mesalmente direcionadas em vista ventral; presença de processo mesoventral acuminado, com formato triangular no apêndice inferior, e aparato fálico com extensões laterais levemente curvadas em vista dorsal, não direcionadas lateralmente