In a field study carried out in 2011 and 2014 adult dragonflies were identified as a rapid and easy-to-use means of assessing habitat quality and biological integrity of Mediterranean streams and rivers in the province of Barcelona (Region Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula). The study included sampling sites from five different river catchments: Besòs, Foix, Llobregat, Ter…
In Norway and throughout the rest of Europe, a continuous decline in the number of small lakes and ponds has taken place. As a consequence, many pond-dwelling organisms have become rare or extinct. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have since the 1990s been used as a remedial action against agricultural runoff. This study has investigated the potential…
Globally, freshwater ecosystems and the organisms that depend on them are at risk. Dragonflies and damselflies (collectively, “odonates”) have a history of being used as bioindicators of freshwater habitat quality due to their wide range in environmental sensitivities across species and because they are relatively accessible.
Natural landscapes of Latin America, such as the Cerrado biome, are increasingly changing due to conflicting development models between economic growth and biodiversity conservation. In cases of total or partial suppression of natural vegetation, more sunlight reaches the streams, leading to changes in Odonata assemblages.
This study investigated the biological water quality and Odonata assemblages in three waterbodies in Ilara-Mokin, with the aim of determining the ecological integrity of the ecosystems. Sampling of Odonata specimens was carried out over April–August, 2017 between 9.00am and 4.00pm under favourable conditions. Some physico-chemical parameters of the water such as dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity,…
Habitat loss and fragmentation induce a decline and endangerment of freshwater organisms such as Aeshna viridis, an endangered dragonfly species characterised by a specific insect–plant association to the macrophyte Stratiotes aloides. In order to implement conservation measures, a good level of knowledge about the occurrence, habitat requirements and quality, as well as patch size of…
Urbanization has considerable impacts on stream ecosystems. Streams in urban settings are affected by multiple stressors such as flow modifications and loss of riparian vegetation. The richness and abundance of aquatic insects, such as odonates, directly reflect these alterations and can be used to assess urban impacts on streams.
Dragonflies are commonly used as indicators of environmental quality and different methods have been employed to monitor odonate assemblages, such as surveys of all adults, evaluations based on breeding adults, sampling of larvae and collection of exuviae. Results obtained with different sampling methods may not be interchangeable, as the different life stages (e.g. larvae, adults)…
During a period of nine years, from 2000 to 2008, two consecutive studies—one focusing on observations of adult Odonata, the other on collection of larvae—were carried out in the basin of the Guadiamar River in the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. In addition to monitoring Odonata, several environmental variables were assessed, including an index based on macroinvertebrate…
We compared the larval abundance of Mecistogaster modesta between bromeliads at ground level and canopy level in a primary tropical wet forest. Zygopteran abundance correlated strongly with bromeliad diameter at both levels. Although the per-bromeliad zygopteran abundance did not differ between vertical levels, M. modesta showed a strong vertical distribution in abundance owing to the…