Seasonal and environmental drivers of necrophagous Diptera assemblages in tropical agricultural landscapes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14295/bjs.v5i7.873Keywords:
carrion ecology, forensic entomology, habitat heterogeneity, necrophagous Diptera, tropical agricultural landscapesAbstract
Carrion-associated Diptera play important ecological roles in nutrient cycling and decomposition processes, yet the combined effects of vegetation structure, seasonality, and resource quality on their assemblage organization in tropical agricultural systems remain poorly understood. This study evaluated the influence of vegetation matrix, seasonal variation, and bait type on the abundance, richness, diversity, and community composition of necrophagous Diptera in agricultural landscapes of southeastern Brazil. Sampling followed a completely randomized factorial design combining two vegetation matrices, coffee plantations and pasturelands, with two bait types, bovine liver and fish, across dry and rainy seasons, totaling 64 independent sampling units. Traps remained exposed for 48 h, and collected specimens were identified to family level and classified into morphospecies. Community structure was evaluated using diversity indices, factorial analyses, Tukey post-hoc tests, and multivariate analyses based on Bray–Curtis dissimilarity, including NMDS and PERMANOVA. A total of 472 individuals distributed among 13 morphospecies and seven Diptera families were recorded. Coffee plantations exhibited higher abundance and diversity values than pasture areas, particularly during the rainy season, whereas bovine liver showed greater attractiveness than fish bait. The highest diversity values were observed in coffee plantations baited with bovine liver during the rainy season, suggesting synergistic interactions among vegetation complexity, climatic conditions, and resource quality. Multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in community composition among treatments. Overall, vegetation structure, seasonality, and bait type jointly influenced the organization of necrophagous Diptera assemblages under the evaluated tropical agricultural conditions.
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