Amphibian tolerance to arsenic: microbiome-mediated insights.

Amphibians are often recognized as bioindicators of healthy ecosystems. The persistence of amphibian populations in heavily contaminated environments provides an excellent opportunity to investigate rapid vertebrate adaptations to harmful contaminants. Using a combination of culture-based challenge assays and a skin permeability assay, we tested whether the skin-associated microbiota may confer adaptive tolerance to tropical amphibians in regions heavily contaminated with arsenic, thus supporting the adaptive microbiome principle and immune interactions of the amphibian mucus. At lower arsenic concentrations (1 and 5 mM As3+), we found a significantly higher number of bacterial isolates tolerant to arsenic from amphibians sampled at an arsenic contaminated region (TES) than from amphibians sampled at an arsenic free region (JN). Strikingly, none of the bacterial isolates from our arsenic free region tolerated high concentrations of arsenic. In our skin permeability experiment, where we tested whether a subset of arsenic-tolerant bacterial isolates could reduce skin permeability to arsenic, we found that isolates known to tolerate high concentrations of arsenic significantly reduced amphibian skin permeability to this metalloid. This pattern did not hold true for bacterial isolates with low arsenic tolerance. Our results describe a pattern of environmental selection of arsenic-tolerant skin bacteria capable of protecting amphibians from intoxication, which helps explain the persistence of amphibian populations in water bodies heavily contaminated with arsenic.

Differential response of fire on the community dynamics of five insect taxa in a tropical mountaintop forest archipelago.

The Earth's most diverse group of organisms is facing an imminent crisis, as recent investigations suggest a remarkable decline in insect diversity. Within this context, altimontane forest islands might emerge as important refuges holding an invaluable diversity of species that would be doomed to disappear. Here, we aimed to examine the impact of fire on the temporal variation of ant, bee, butterfly, dung beetle, and wasp communities in natural and highly threatened altimontane forest islands. We predicted that fire incidence would increase the natural variation in the structure of these insects' communities over time. Furthermore, we predicted that each taxon would respond accordingly to their ability to move between forest islands (i.e., vagility). We sampled these five bioindicator taxa in the rainy seasons of 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2020 within 14 forest islands in southeast Brazil. We assessed the incidence (presence/absence) of fire occurrence on each forest island toward the end of the dry season in each sampling year. We found an influence of fire incidence on the species composition changes over time (temporal ß-diversity) in the less vagile insect groups: ants, and dung beetles. Nevertheless, we found no influence of fire incidence on shifts in species composition of highly vagile insects: bees, butterflies, and wasps. Importantly, species turnover was the primary component of temporal ß-diversity driving the interannual variation of all insect taxa examined in this study. Our results highlight the distinct responses of more-or-less vagile insect groups to fire in forested ecosystems and shed light on the drivers of vulnerability and resilience of these groups to this critical anthropogenic pressure. By understanding and elucidating the intricate responses of distinct insect communities to global stressors, we can strengthen our capacity to predict future trends in biodiversity decline and provide valuable insights for conservation efforts and environmental management strategies.

Wings are not perfect: increased wing asymmetry in a tropical butterfly as a response to forest fragmentation.

Habitat fragmentation and ecosystem changes have the potential to affect animal populations in different ways. To effectively monitor these changes, biomonitoring tools have been developed and applied to detect changes in population structure and/or individual traits that reflect such changes. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) represents random deviations from perfect symmetry in bilateral traits from perfect symmetry in response to genetic and/or environmental stresses. In this study, we evaluated the use of FA as a tool to monitor stress caused by forest fragmentation and edge formation, using the tropical butterfly M. helenor (Nymphalidae) as a model species. We collected adult butterflies from three fragments of Atlantic Forest in Brazil encompassing both edge and interior habitats. Four wing traits (wing length, wing width, ocelli area, and ocelli diameter) were evaluated. Butterflies captured at edge sites exhibited higher FA values for wing length and wing width compared to those captured at interior sites, whereas traits related to ocelli did not show differences between the two habitat types. Our results suggest that the differences in abiotic and biotic conditions between forest interior and edges can act as a source of stress, impacting the symmetry of flight-related traits. On the other hand, as ocelli are crucial for butterfly camouflage and counter-predator strategies, our results indicate that this trait may be more conserved. By employing FA, we identified trait-specific responses to habitat fragmentation, thus suggesting its potential as a biomarker for environmental stress that can be used in butterflies to monitor habitat quality and change.

Host phylogeny and seasonality shapes avian haemosporidian prevalence in a Brazilian biodiverse and dry forest: the Caatinga.

The relationships between host phylogenetics, functional traits and parasites in wildlife remain poorly understood in the Neotropics, especially in habitats with marked seasonal variation. Here, we examined the effect of seasonality and host functional traits on the prevalence of avian haemosporidians (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in the Brazilian Caatinga, a seasonally dry tropical forest. 933 birds were evaluated for haemosporidian infections. We found a high parasitism prevalence (51.2%), which was correlated with phylogenetic relatedness among avian species. Prevalence varied drastically among the 20 well-sampled species, ranging from 0 to 70%. Seasonality was the main factor associated with infections, but how this abiotic condition influenced parasite prevalence varied according to the host-parasite system. Plasmodium prevalence increased during the rainy season and, after excluding the large sample size of Columbiformes (n = 462/933), Plasmodium infection rate was maintained high in the wet season and showed a negative association with host body mass. No association was found between non-Columbiform bird prevalence and seasonality or body mass when evaluating both Plasmodium and Haemoproteus or only Haemoproteus infections. Parasite community was composed of 32 lineages including 7 new lineages. We evidenced that even dry domains can harbour a high prevalence and diversity of vector-borne parasites and pointed out seasonality as a ruling factor.

Noise interfere on feeding behaviour but not on food preference of saffron finches (Sicalis flaveola).

Noise pollution exerts negative well-being effects on animals, especially for captive individuals. A decrease in feeding, reproduction, attention, and an increase in stress are examples of negative effects of noise pollution on animals. Noise pollution can also negatively impact animals' lives by decreasing the efficiency of food choice: attention decrease can cause animals choose the least profitable food, which can affect their fitness. The aims of this study were to analyse the effects of noise on feeding behaviour and food preference of saffron finches. Foraging tests were performed under background sound pressure levels and under a noisy condition. The behaviours exhibited by the birds during the tests were recorded using focal sampling with instantaneous recording of behaviour every 10 s. Results showed that finches consumed more the higher energetic food, and that noise pollution did not impact food consumption by the birds. Noise changed the number of visits on the feeders, and increased the expression of the 'lower the head' and vigilance behaviours during feeding. These findings could be important for wild and captive animals because an increase in vigilance and in changes in foraging behaviour could ultimately impact their fitness. Thus, mitigation measures should be taken in relation to noise impact on wildlife, this is especially the case for captive animals, which have no chance to avoid noisy environments.

Altitudinal variation in butterfly community associated with climate and vegetation.

Elevation creates a variety of physical conditions in a relatively short distance, which makes mountains suitable for studying the effects of climate change on biodiversity. We investigated the importance of climate and vegetation for the distribution of butterflies from 800 to 1400 m elevation. We sampled butterflies, and woody and rosette plants and measured air temperature and humidity, wind speed and gust, and solar radiation. We partitioned diversity to assess the processes underlying community shifts across altitudes - species loss versus replacement. We assessed the strength of the association among butterfly, vegetation, and climate. Butterfly richness and abundance decreased with altitude, and species composition changed along the elevation. Changes in butterfly composition with altitude were mainly through species replacement and by abundance increases in some species being compensated by decreases in others. Since the floristic diversity decreased with altitude due to soil conditions, and butterflies are closely related to their host plants, this could explain species replacement with altitude. Overall, we found a stronger association of butterfly community with vegetation than climate, but plant community and climate were also strongly associated between them. Butterfly richness was more strongly associated with plant richness than with temperature, while the reverse was true for butterfly abundance, which was more strongly associated with temperature than with plant richness. We must consider the complementary roles of resource and conditions in species distribution.

Impacts of noise pollution on the agonistic interactions of the saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola Linnaeus, 1766).

Impacts of noise pollution are recognized as a source of stress for animals and as a form of environmental degradation. Behavioural changes associated with noise, such as reduction of reproductive success, reduction in feeding behaviour, increase in vigilance behaviours and inability to detect environment acoustic signals, are observed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how noise influences aggressive behaviour of the saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola). We conducted tests of territoriality-aggressiveness against conspecifics. Seven individuals were tested, with six tests per individual being conducted in two treatments (traffic pollution and ambient noise), totalling 84 tests. The noise treatment significantly altered the agonistic interactions of the saffron finches, with territorial males exhibiting less aggressive behaviours towards intruders.

Thermal Tolerance of Fruit-Feeding Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Contrasting Mountaintop Environments.

Ectothermic organisms, such as insects, are highly temperature dependent and are good models for studies that predict organisms' responses to global climate change. Predicting how climate change may affect species distributions is a complicated task. However, it is possible to estimate species' physiological constraints through maximum critical temperature, which may indicate if the species can tolerate new climates. Butterflies are useful organisms for studies of thermal tolerance. We tested if species have different thermal tolerances and if different habitats influence the thermal tolerance of the butterflies present in Brazil's campo rupestre (open areas) and forest islands (shaded areas). A total of 394 fruit-feeding butterflies, comprising 45 species, were tested. The results separated the species into two statistically different groups: the resistant species with maximum critical temperature of 53.8 ± 7.4 °C, and the non-resistant species with maximum critical temperature of 48.2 ± 7.4 °C. The species of butterflies displayed differences in maximum critical temperature between the campo rupestre and forest islands that can be related to the two distinct habitats, but this did not correlate phylogenetically. Species from the forest islands were also divided into two groups, "resistant" and "non-resistant", probably due to the heterogeneity of the habitat; the forest islands have a canopy, and in the understory, there are shaded and sunny areas. Species from forest islands, especially species that displayed lower thermal tolerance, may be more susceptible to global warming.

Atlantic butterflies: a data set of fruit-feeding butterfly communities from the Atlantic forests.

Butterflies are one of the best-known insect groups, and they have been the subject of numerous studies in ecology and evolution, especially in the tropics. Much attention has been given to the fruit-feeding butterfly guild in biodiversity conservation studies, due to the relative ease with which taxa may be identified and specimens sampled using bait traps. However, there remain many uncertainties about the macroecological and biogeographical patterns of butterflies in tropical ecosystems. In the present study, we gathered information about fruit-feeding butterfly species in local communities from the Atlantic Forests of South America. The ATLANTIC BUTTERFLIES data set, which is part of ATLANTIC SERIES data papers, results from a compilation of 145 unpublished inventories and 64 other references, including articles, theses, and book chapters published from 1949 to 2018. In total, the data set contains 7,062 records (presence) of 279 species of fruit-feeding butterflies identified with taxonomic certainty, from 122 study locations. The Satyrini is the tribe with highest number of species (45%) and records (30%), followed by Brassolini, with 13% of species and 12.5% of records. The 10 most common species correspond to 14.2% of all records. This data set represents a major effort to compile inventories of fruit-feeding butterfly communities, filling a knowledge gap about the diversity and distribution of these butterflies in the Atlantic Forest. We hope that the present data set can provide guidelines for future studies and planning of new inventories of fruit-feeding butterflies in this biome. The information presented here also has potential use in studies across a great variety of spatial scales, from local and landscape levels to macroecological research and biogeographical research. We expect that such studies be very important for the better implementation of conservation initiatives, and for understanding the multiple ecological processes that involve fruit-feeding butterflies as biological indicators. No copyright restrictions apply to the use of this data set. Please cite this Data paper when using the current data in publications or teaching events.

Before it is too late: description of a new genus and species of butterfly from a highly threatened Brazilian biome

Abstract A new genus, Nhambikuara Freitas, Barbosa & Zacca gen. nov., and species, Nhambikuara cerradensis Freitas, Barbosa & Zacca sp. nov., of the highly diverse Neotropical butterfly subtribe Euptychiina are described. Nhambikuara cerradensis sp. nov. is the type species for the genus, and Euptychia mima Butler, 1867 is also transferred to the new genus, as Nhambikuara mima (Butler, 1867) comb. nov., from the genus Zischkaia Forster, 1964. The taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, geographic distribution and natural history of species of the genus are also discussed.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:41AD7568-3490-4F63-A019-32D5592A8C44

Diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a mountaintop archipelago of rainforest.

We provide the first description of the effects of local vegetation and landscape structure on the fruit-feeding butterfly community of a natural archipelago of montane rainforest islands in the Serra do Espinhaço, southeastern Brazil. Butterflies were collected with bait traps in eleven forest islands through both dry and rainy seasons for two consecutive years. The influence of local and landscape parameters and seasonality on butterfly species richness, abundance and composition were analyzed. We also examined the partitioning and decomposition of temporal and spatial beta diversity. Five hundred and twelve fruit-feeding butterflies belonging to thirty-four species were recorded. Butterfly species richness and abundance were higher on islands with greater canopy openness in the dry season. On the other hand, islands with greater understory coverage hosted higher species richness in the rainy season. Instead, the butterfly species richness was higher with lower understory coverage in the dry season. Butterfly abundance was not influenced by understory cover. The landscape metrics of area and isolation had no effect on species richness and abundance. The composition of butterfly communities in the forest islands was not randomly structured. The butterfly communities were dependent on local and landscape effects, and the mechanism of turnover was the main source of variation in ß diversity. The preservation of this mountain rainforest island complex is vital for the maintenance of fruit-feeding butterfly community; one island does not reflect the diversity found in the whole archipelago.

Borboletas frugívoras (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) de uma área urbana (Área de Proteção Especial Manancial Cercadinho) em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil / Fruit-feeding butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in an urban area (Area of Special Protection Manancial Cercadinho) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Com o objetivo de conhecer as borboletas frugívoras de uma área urbana em Minas Gerais, foi realizado um inventário na Área de Proteção Especial Manacial Cercadinho, localizada na periferia de Belo Horizonte. Foram instaladas 30 armadilhas em dois ambientes: 15 em uma área de Cerrado (campo Cerrado) e 15 na mata ciliar, durante o período de um ano. Foram coletados 1219 indivíduos pertencentes a 45 espécies da família Nymphalidae. A análise de rarefação não indicou diferença entre a riqueza de espécies da mata ciliar e do Cerrado. A curva acumulativa de ocorrência de espécies não resultou em uma assíntota. As quatro espécies mais abundantes pertencem à subfamília Satyrinae. Os resultados em relação à riqueza de espécies no Cercadinho apontam a importância da sua preservação, pois abriga 40% de toda a fauna de borboletas frugívoras estimadas para a região, podendo ser manejada como fonte de colonização de outras áreas urbanas.

Aiming to increase the knowledge of fruit-feeding butterflies in an urban area in Minas Gerais State, a inventory was carried out in the Área de Proteção Especial Manancial Cercadinho, located in the suburban area of Belo Horizonte. Thirty baited traps were arranged in two habitats: 15 in a Cerrado area (Cerrado field) and 15 in a riparian forest. We recorded 1219 individuals belonging to 45 species of Nymphalidae. The rarefaction analyses didn't indicate difference in species richness between the riparian forest and Cerrado. The species accumulation curve did not show an asymptote. The four most abundant species belonged to Satyrinae. Our results about species richness in Cercadinho emphasize the need to protect this area, because it preserves 40% of the whole butterfly fauna estimated for the region, which could be managed as a source of colonization to other urban areas.