Effect of forest fires on a Mediterranean Odonata assemblage

Joaquín Márquez-Rodríguez a , Boudjéma Samraoui b,c , Manuel Ferreras-Romero a

  1. Department of Physical, Chemical and Natural Systems, University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
  2. Départment of Biology, University Badji Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria
  3. Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, Université 8 mai 1945, Guelma, Algeria

International Journal of Odonatology, Volume 26, Pages 27-35, 2023
https://doi.org/10.48156/1388.2023.1917199
Published: 23 March 2023 (Received: 25 July 2022, Accepted: 20 March 2023)

Abstract

Large-scale forest fires have shaped the Mediterranean landscape for millennia, causing a recurrent disturbance that constitutes a serious environmental issue. Following a devastating forest fire, changes in the Odonata larvae assemblage of a headwater stream were analysed during six consecutive years. Five dragonflies survived the fire as larvae: Boyeria irene, Gomphus pulchellus, Onychogomphus forcipatus, O. uncatus, and Cordulegaster boltonii. Mediterranean semivoltine odonates, in contrast to species with short life cycles, exhibited resilience to forest fires, suggesting that species with long life cycles were adapted to fire disturbances that periodically sweep through their habitats.

Keywords: Dragonflies, larvae, Mediterranean streams, semivoltine species, wildfires

Issue section: Original Article