Sampling event Registered January 17, 2022

    A survey of exotic arthropods in disturbed Azorean forest habitats using SLAM traps

    Borges P A V • Lamelas-López L • Ros-Prieto A

    Description

    The data we present consists in an inventory of exotic arthropods, potentially invasive, collected on exotic and mixed forests, as well disturbed native forest patches most of them not included in protected areas, on the Azores archipelago. The study was carried out between 2019 and 2020 in four islands: Corvo, Flores, Terceira and Santa Maria, where a total of 45 passive flight interception SLAM traps were deployed, during three to six consecutive months. This manuscript is the second contribution of the “SLAM Project - Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change in the natural forest of Azores”. A total of 45 passive flight interception SLAM traps were deployed, during six consecutive months, collecting arthropods belonging to Arachnida, Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Insecta Classes. We collected a total of 21,175 specimens, belonging to 20 orders, 93 families and 249 species of arthropods. A total of 125 species are considered introduced, 89 native non-endemic and 35 endemic. We registered a total of 33 new records for one or more islands, of which five are new for Azores: Dieckmanniellus nitidulus (Gyllenhal, 1838), Gronops fasciatus Küster, 1851, Hadroplontus trimaculatus (Fabricius, 1775), Hypurus berandi (Perris, 1852) (all Coleoptera, Curculionidae) and Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). This publication remarks the importance of disturbed native forest patches and exotic vegetation areas as potential reservoirs of exotic potentially invasive arthropods and also accommodating some rare relict endemic arthropod species

    Geographic scope

    Description

    Corvo, Flores, Terceira and Santa Maria islands, in the Azores archipelago (Portugal).
    Coordinates:
    Corvo: 39°42'6.75''N Latitude; 31°6'6''W Longitude
    Flores: 39°26'37''N Latitude; 31°11'57''W Longitude
    Terceira: 38°38'16.8''N and 38°48'50.4''N Latitude; 27°23'38.4''W and 27°0'54''W Longitude
    Santa Maria: 36°58'29''N Latitude; 25°05'41''W Longitude

    Latitude
    From 36.906 to 39.741
    Longitude
    From -31.295 to -24.95

    Temporal scope

    range
    May 15, 2019 - September 16, 2020

    Taxonomic scope

    Description

    The following Classes and Orders are covered:
    Arachnida: Araneae; Opiliones; Pseudoscorpiones
    Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha; Lithobiomorpha; Scolopendromorpha; Scutigeromorpha
    Diplopoda: Julida; Polydesmida
    Insecta: Archaeognatha; Blattodea; Coleoptera; Dermaptera; Hemiptera; Hymenoptera; Isoptera; Neuroptera; Orthoptera; Phasmatodea; Psocodea; Thysanoptera; Trichoptera.

    Coverage
    ArthropodaArthropods

    Methodology

    Sampling

    A total of 45 passive flight interception SLAM traps (Sea, Land and Air Malaise trap) were used to sample the plots in the four study islands, with one trap being setup at each plot. Trap size is of approximately 110 x 110 x 110 cm. The trap functioning consist on that the intercepted arthropods crawl up the mesh and then fall inside the sampling recipient, which is filled with propylene glycol (pure 1,2-PROPANODIOL) (Borges et al, 2017). A total of 19 SLAM traps were deployed in exotic forest areas, 8 on native forest patches, and 18 on mixed forests. The traps samples were collected every three or six months.

    Study extent

    The study was conducted in four islands of the Azores archipelago, Corvo, Flores, Terceira and Santa Maria islands. The sampled habitats included exotic species dominated forests, mixed forests (native and exotic species) and native forest patches not included on Protected Areas. The exotic forests were dominated mainly by Pittosporum undulatum, Eucalyptus spp., Cryptomeria japonica, Acacia melanoxylon and Pinus pinaster. The native forests were mainly dominated by Erica azorica, Laurus azorica, Ilex perado azorica and Juniperus brevifolia, between others. Mixed forests included exotic and native species of vegetation

    Quality control

    All sampled individuals were first sorted by trained paratoxonomists. All specimens were allocated to a taxonomic species by Paulo A. V. Borges. Despite the uncertainty of juvenile identification, juveniles are also included in the data presented in this paper, since the low diversity allowed a relatively precise identification of this life-stage in Azores.

    Method steps
    1. At the laboratory, specimen sorting and arthropod identification followed standard procedures. A combination of morphological and anatomical characters and reproductive structures was used for species identification. A reference collection was made for all collected specimens by assigning them a morphospecies code number and depositing them at the Dalberto Teixeira Pombo Insect Collection, University of Azores.

    Bibliography

    • Borges, P.A.V., Pimentel, R., Carvalho, R., Nunes, R., Wallon, S. & Ros Prieto, A. (2017). Seasonal dynamics of arthropods in the humid native forests of Terceira Island (Azores). Arquipelago Life and Marine Sciences, 34: 105-122.
      Google Scholar
    • Borges, P.A.V., Rigal, F., Ros-Prieto, A., & Cardoso, P. (2020). Increase of insular exotic arthropod diversity is a fundamental dimension of the current biodiversity crisis. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 13: 508-518.
      Identifier: DOI: 10.1111/icad.12431Google Scholar
    • Costa, R. & Borges, P.A.V. (2021). SLAM Project - Long term ecological study of the impacts of climate change in the natural forest of Azores: I - the spiders from native forests of Terceira and Pico Islands (2012-2019). Biodiversity Data Journal, 9: e69924.
      Identifier: DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.9.e69924Google Scholar
    • Matthews, T., Sadler, J.P., Carvalho, R., Nunes, R. & Borges, P.A.V. (2019). Differential turnover rates and temporal beta-diversity patterns of native and non-native arthropod species in a fragmented native forest landscape. Ecography, 42: 45–54 .
      Identifier: DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03812Google Scholar
    • Tsafack, N., Fattorini, S., Boieiro, M., Rigal, F., Ros-Prieto, A., Ferreira, M.T. & Borges, P.A.V. (2021). The role of small lowland patches of exotic forests as refuges of rare endemic Azorean arthropods. Diversity, 13(9): 443.
      Identifier: Doi: 10.3390/d13090443Google Scholar

    Contacts

    • Paulo A. V. Borges

      Originator
      Metadata author
      Content provider
      Administrative point of contact
      Organization
      Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute
      Position
      Aggregate Professor
      Address
      Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Environment, University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze
      Roles
      Originator
      Metadata author
      Content provider
      Administrative point of contact
      Email
      Phone
      User ID
    • Lucas Lamelas-López

      Originator
      Organization
      Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute
      Position
      Student
      Address
      Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Environment, University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze
      Roles
      Originator
      Email
      Phone
    • Alejandra Ros-Prieto

      Originator
      Organization
      Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute
      Position
      Student
      Address
      Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Environment, University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze
      Roles
      Originator
      Email
      Phone

    GBIF registration

    Registration date
    January 17, 2022
    Metadata last modified
    March 22, 2023
    Publication date
    March 22, 2023
    Hosted by
    Instituto Superior de Agronomia / Universidade de Lisboa
    Installation
    GBIF Portugal IPT
    Endpoints
    Darwin Core Archive
    EML
    Preferred identifier
    10.15468/ucfehv
    Alternative identifiers

    Citation

    Borges P A V, Lamelas-López L, Ros-Prieto A (2023). A survey of exotic arthropods in disturbed Azorean forest habitats using SLAM traps. Version 1.8. Universidade dos Açores. Sampling event dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ucfehv accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-08-13.