Taxonomic and Functional Variation in Arthropod Fauna Associated with Plant to Vegetal Communities on High-Andean Wetlands (Colombia)

Abstract

Unplanned urban growth transforms the structure and functioning of ecosystems by reducing biodiversity and species composition. These impacts are particularly strong in wetland ecosystems, which are important in hydric regulation and nutrient cycling. This study assessed and compared the composition and functional structure of arthropod communities in the wetlands of El Burro, Techo and La Vaca (Kennedy) Bogotá, Colombia, considering their abundance, richness and diversity. We collected arthropods in grasslands, reedbeds, macrophyte floating vegetation, and emergent prairie meadows by establishing three quadrants of 5x5 m in each habitat, using pitfall traps, insect nets and manual capture. The highest richness of orders and families was at La Vaca wetland (17 orders and 75 families; Shannon-Wiener diversity index (SWD) = 3.45), followed by El Burro (16 orders and 73 families; SWD = 2.99) and Techo (12 orders and 40 families; SWD = 2.86). The predominant orders were Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Richness was higher at grasslands, except at El Burro where it was higher in macrophyte floating vegetation. 12 families had not been previously recorded in arthropod fauna wetland studies in the Bogotá area. Predators, decomposers, and nectar/pollen feeders were the most diverse groups. Nonetheless the diversity of microhabitats enables particular trophic guilds for each wetland and for each habitat.