Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages
Aquatic insects like dragonflies and damselflies link the aquatic and terrestrial world through their life-cycle. Adults and larvae are frequently regarded as indicators of good environmental quality. The relationship between adults and the water quality in a nearby water system is not well known as...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Environmental and Sustainability Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266597272500042X |
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| author | Edwin THM. Peeters Anton AM. Gerritsen Froukje Rienks Michiel Wilhelm |
| author_facet | Edwin THM. Peeters Anton AM. Gerritsen Froukje Rienks Michiel Wilhelm |
| author_sort | Edwin THM. Peeters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aquatic insects like dragonflies and damselflies link the aquatic and terrestrial world through their life-cycle. Adults and larvae are frequently regarded as indicators of good environmental quality. The relationship between adults and the water quality in a nearby water system is not well known as well as to what extent adults reflect the presence of their larvae in that water system. To explore these relationships, ideally adults and larvae should be recorded at the same time. In a Dutch citizen science project, adult Odonata were recorded while collecting aquatic macroinvertebrates in 364 sampling events in 2023.Regression analyses showed that the presence of adult dragonflies was weakly correlated with the presence of their larvae in a nearby water system, while the presence of adult damselflies was a much better indicator. Damselfly larvae were associated with a moderate to reasonable biological water quality and dragonfly larvae with reasonable to good. Higher vegetation cover coincided with the presence of adult Odonata, but vegetation cover was insignificant to their larvae. Abiotic conditions were more important for larvae than biotic variables. Dragonfly larvae were better indicators of good water quality than damselfly larvae and adult Odonata were not at all associated with water quality in the nearby water system. However, adult Odonata do indicate the presence of aquatic vegetation in a nearby water system. Since volunteers frequently sampled other waters than professionals, public available data of these recordings can be very beneficial for water managers to know more about water quality in their areas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9a508fa243a34efdb5f2bacaef578504 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2665-9727 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental and Sustainability Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-9a508fa243a34efdb5f2bacaef5785042025-02-05T04:32:39ZengElsevierEnvironmental and Sustainability Indicators2665-97272025-06-0126100621Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stagesEdwin THM. Peeters0Anton AM. Gerritsen1Froukje Rienks2Michiel Wilhelm3Chairgroup Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, Wageningen, 6708 PB, the Netherlands; Corresponding author.Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Netherlands, Europalaan 2B, 3526 KS, Utrecht, the NetherlandsNetherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, Wageningen, 6708 PB, the NetherlandsTAUW, Australiëlaan 5, 3526 AB, Utrecht, the NetherlandsAquatic insects like dragonflies and damselflies link the aquatic and terrestrial world through their life-cycle. Adults and larvae are frequently regarded as indicators of good environmental quality. The relationship between adults and the water quality in a nearby water system is not well known as well as to what extent adults reflect the presence of their larvae in that water system. To explore these relationships, ideally adults and larvae should be recorded at the same time. In a Dutch citizen science project, adult Odonata were recorded while collecting aquatic macroinvertebrates in 364 sampling events in 2023.Regression analyses showed that the presence of adult dragonflies was weakly correlated with the presence of their larvae in a nearby water system, while the presence of adult damselflies was a much better indicator. Damselfly larvae were associated with a moderate to reasonable biological water quality and dragonfly larvae with reasonable to good. Higher vegetation cover coincided with the presence of adult Odonata, but vegetation cover was insignificant to their larvae. Abiotic conditions were more important for larvae than biotic variables. Dragonfly larvae were better indicators of good water quality than damselfly larvae and adult Odonata were not at all associated with water quality in the nearby water system. However, adult Odonata do indicate the presence of aquatic vegetation in a nearby water system. Since volunteers frequently sampled other waters than professionals, public available data of these recordings can be very beneficial for water managers to know more about water quality in their areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266597272500042XCitizen scienceIndicatorsLand-waterMonitoringOdonataWater quality |
| spellingShingle | Edwin THM. Peeters Anton AM. Gerritsen Froukje Rienks Michiel Wilhelm Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Citizen science Indicators Land-water Monitoring Odonata Water quality |
| title | Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| title_full | Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| title_fullStr | Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| title_full_unstemmed | Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| title_short | Link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| title_sort | link of dragonflies and damselflies with the aquatic environment is differently expressed in adult and larval stages |
| topic | Citizen science Indicators Land-water Monitoring Odonata Water quality |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266597272500042X |
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