The potential uses of sarcosaprophagous flesh flies and blowflies for the evaluation of the regeneration and conservation of forest clearings: A Case study in the Amazon forest

Abstract

The level of association between dipterans of the families Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae and habitats with different levels of vegetation cover was analyzed at Porto Urucu in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil, with the aim of identifying the potential of these taxa as bioindicators for the assessment of forest regeneration and conservation. The flies were collected in 16 sample areas, 12 of which were clearings at different stages of regeneration (C1 - early regeneration; C2 - moderate regeneration; and C3 - advanced regeneration) and 4 in continuous forest (F). According to the IndVal analysis, nine sarcophagid species - Peckia (Sarcodexia) lambens (Wiedemann), Peckia (Peckia) chrysostoma (Wiedemann), Peckia (Squamatodes) ingens (Walker), Sarcofahrtiopsis cuneata (Townsend), Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker), Peckia (Euboettcheria) collusor (Curran & Walley), Oxysarcodexia fringidea (Curran & Walley), Oxysarcodexia amorosa (Schiner), and Helicobia pilifera (Lopes) - were associated indiscriminately with clearings (C1+C2+C3). In contrast, only one calliphorid species Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) was associated with clearings in the early moderate regeneration (C1+C2) phases, and four calliphorids were associated with continuous forest or mature clearings (C3+F): Mesembrinella bicolor (F.), Eumesembrinella randa (Walker), Mesembrinella bellardiana (Aldrich), and Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann). These results indicate that sarcophagids may be useful for evaluating the degree of anthropogenic impact but are not suitable for the detection of minor variations in forest cover. In contrast, calliphorids may be appropriate for the evaluation of both anthropogenic impacts and the degree of forest regeneration and conservation.