Efficiency in using genera and families of heteroptera for stream biomonitoring in the Cerrado Biome, Eastern Maranhão, Brazil.

Heteroptera are aquatic insects sensitive to environmental impacts that are frequently used in biomonitoring programs. Resolving families and genera provides consistent responses and can be a useful alternative to accelerate monitoring results and simplify protocols. Our objective was to evaluate which taxonomic levels may be more effective in assessing environmental impacts by testing the following hypotheses: (i) higher taxa of Heteroptera (family and genus) will present congruence with lower taxa (species); (ii) the environmental integrity of the stream will affect the composition of the family, genera and species and will create change points in the abundance and frequency of each taxon.

Amazon streams impacted by bauxite mining present distinct local contributions to the beta diversity of aquatic insects, fish, and macrophytes.

Integrating the physicochemical characteristics of aquatic environments with their biotas is essential for the conservation and monitoring of biodiversity, given the sensitivity of both the biotic and the abiotic components to environmental changes linked to water quality and human activities. In the present study, we evaluate how the contributions of different taxa to beta diversity, through local and species effects, can indicate the priority sites for conservation and ecological restoration in an Amazon region impacted by bauxite mining. We also investigate how environmental conditions at local and landscape scales influence the beta diversity of the aquatic biota.

The loss of riparian vegetation along streams causes morphological divergences in functional traits of semiaquatic insects (Heteropteran: Gerromorpha) in the eastern Amazon.

Understanding the effects of mining activities on Amazonian streams and their impact on aquatic communities is of paramount importance in the current context of resource overexploitation in society. In this study, we assessed the significance of the environment and interspecific interactions on the organization patterns of semiaquatic insect species in a mineral extraction region in the eastern Amazon. We utilized the morpho functional characteristics of 22 species from the suborder Gerromorpha (Heteropteran), considering both the abundance and sexual dimorphism of these species.

Do microplastics and climate change negatively affect shredder invertebrates from an amazon stream? An ecosystem functioning perspective.

Pollution and climate change are among the main threats to the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems in the 21st century. We experimentally tested the effects of microplastic and climate change (i.e.