Assessment of Darkling Beetle Fauna after Implementation of an Environmental Restoration Program in the Southern Iberian Peninsula Affected by the Aznalcóllar Toxic Spill

This study is part of the Follow up Restoration Program of animal communities that colonize the Guadiamar River Basin. In 1998, the area was affected by a release of toxic sludge after the retention walls of the Aznalcóllar Mines (southern Iberian Peninsula) broke. The main objective of this study was to assess the current state of the population of Tenebrionidae, one of the most representative groups of edaphic Coleoptera inhabiting the Guadiamar River Basin. This paper analyses the progress made by the darkling beetle community six years after the disaster occurred and the Restoration Program was implemented. The study is based on faunistic data from systematic sampling carried out for six years to monitor plots distributed across the damaged area. To make an overall assessment of the tenebrionid fauna in relation to adjacent areas qualitative and quantitative ecological indices were applied, and temporal follow up and biogeographical comparisons were also made. The results indicate that, on the whole, tenebrionid fauna was somewhat affected by the Aznalcóllar Mine spill, and that a greater loss of fauna was detected closer to the accident site. The analysis of the temporal population dynamic suggests that the most affected zones are undergoing a process of re-colonization. However, this process varies widely by species and has not yet reached the expected levels of a non-affected river basin in the southern Iberian Peninsula

Koleopteren aus Mesopotamien

Volume: 33Start Page: 39End Page: 5

Beitr\ue4ge zur Kenntnis der Koleopterengattung Atomaria Steph.

Volume: 1Start Page: 350End Page: 38

Global distribution of microwhip scorpions (Arachnida: Palpigradi)

Aim Historically, research on global distribution patterns has mostly concentrated on conspicuous organisms and thus a large proportion of biodiversity on Earth remains unmapped. We examined the global distribution of palpigrades, a poorly studied group of low dispersive arachnids specialized to subterranean life. We asked what is their typical range size, the ecological factors driving their distributions, and to what extent sampling bias may influence the observed patterns. Location Global. Taxon Palpigrades (Arachnida: Palpigradi) in the genus Eukoenenia. Methods We assembled a database of over 1000 localities and referring to 57 soil- and 69 cave-adapted palpigrades. We tested for differences in range sizes of soil- and cave-adapted species. We used variance partitioning analysis to explore the contribution of climate, nutrient availability and geology in driving observed distributions. Finally, we verified the potential correlation between the number of occurrence records and the number of palpigrades' researchers. Results Europe and Brazil emerged as centres of diversification of cave-adapted palpigrades. Conversely, the diversity of soil-adapted species was distributed over a broader geographical expanse, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. Both cave and soil species had narrow distribution ranges, with a median value of 0.01 km(2); only a few parthenogenetic species were distributed over multiple continents. The distribution of cave- and soil-adapted palpigrades was primarily explained by climatic conditions, and secondarily by nutrient and habitat availability. In the Alps, the distribution of cave-adapted species also bears the signature of historical events related to glaciation cycles. We observed, however, a pronounced people-species correlation, suggesting that the observed patterns are not generalizable to poorly explored areas. Main conclusions Our study highlights enormous gaps in current knowledge about the biogeography of palpigrades. Even if the information is largely incomplete and biased, we show how data can be harnesses to draw a preliminary picture of the global distribution patterns of palpigrades. Thus, we offer a jumping-off point for future studies on the macroecology and conservation of poorly known organisms.Peer reviewe