Similaridade morfológica e seus efeitos na distribuição da assembleias de percevejos semiaquáticos (Gerromorpha: Heteroptera) em igarapés da Amazônia Oriental

Abstract

Studies on patterns of distribution and coexistence of species in natural communities are gaining prominence in the area of community ecology, as they serve as a basis for other studies, such as conservation studies, theoretical ecology and others. In this study, we used the aquatic insects of the Heteroptera Suborder (Infraorder Gerromorpha) to evaluate the relationship between morphological similarity and Gerromorpha coexistence patterns. Two hypotheses were tested: (i) the existence of morphological divergence between coexisting species; (ii) the environment has a low influence on the co-occurrence pattern of the species. The study was done in 32 creeks (streams) in and around a conservation unit in the Eastern Amazon. The hypothesis about morphological divergence between semiaquatic insect species and absence of an environmental effect in the assemblies was corroborated. Species of the Gerromorpha community presented a pattern of non-random co-occurrence. The morphological divergence between species may be the result of intense interspecific competition. In the Gerromorpha assemblages studied, the competition relations were more important than the environment, resulting in the displacement of morphological characters, with coexistent species more distant morphologically than expected for the evaluated models.