Urban development and industrialization impacts on semiaquatic bugs diversity: A case study in eastern Amazonian streams

Landscape changes have caused the decline of biodiversity and affected the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we assessed the influence of industrialization associated with urban development on aquatic environments and the biodiversity of semiaquatic bugs (Gerromorpha) at different scales (water quality, habitat, and landscape). Using the simple buffer method, we evaluated nine streams assessing water quality variables, habitat structure, and linear features (radius ​= ​300 ​m, length ​= ​600 ​m) for the percentage of land use and land cover. Our results found that species composition of Gerromorpha was mainly affected by primary forest cover, habitat integrity, leaves substrate, and water temperature (29% explanation), and the species richness was mostly influenced by the habitat integrity index (HII) and phosphorus concentrations. The model that best explained the variation in species richness showed a positive relationship with phosphorus concentrations and HII (43% variation). Therefore, our results show that those human activities are the main factors altering aquatic biodiversity from local to regional scales. Therefore, the retention of riparian forests – even in urban and industrialized areas – can maintain the diversity of semiaquatic insect species by providing suitable environments for the habitat, feeding, and reproductive requirements of these aquatic organisms. Finally, our results also show that the management of riparian vegetation in urban areas and industrial complexes promotes aquatic biodiversity conservation in regions under development in the Amazon.