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Salwa W. Tohme

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (3): 597-621

    Efat M. Abou-Fakhr Hammad, Jessica Daoud & Salwa W. Tohme
    Insect taxa as biodiversity indicators at selected coastal landscape
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.3.597.621

    ABSTRACT
    For monitoring responses of insect arthropods to disturbance, a dataset of 1831 insects was considered. We studied faunal diversity of insects in terraces habitats located on the coast of Lebanon. Insects were sampled from 12 sites having different habitats with one sampling method of combined pitfall-pan trap. This study resulted in nine insect orders and 129 morphospecies. Hymenoptera was the most abundant order in all habitats (63.57%) followed by the orders Diptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Dictyoptera and Thysanoptera. This coast was classified with medium biodiversity index (D) of 0.51 for insect orders and high D of 0.83 for morphospecies. The highest (D) was in field crops habitat (H1) of 0.64 and 0.91 for insect orders and morphospecies, respectively; followed by scrublands (H3), greenhouse areas (H2) and olive orchards (H4). These results indicated that human intervention was affecting the diversity in natural habitats. Five insect orders: Coleoptera, Dictyoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera were significantly selected as potential biodiversity indicators in this coastal area. Thus, for monitoring these bioindicators, a protocol based on operating our combined trap method appears practical in design and yield very diverse material with the target of sustaining these insect populations in the coastal area.