Restoration Success Assessment of Mediterranean River Copses Based on Orthopteran Diversity

Abstract

There is evidence that the development of plant communities determines the composition and structure of the orthoptera assemblages. This is the reason for using the orthoptera biodiversity as an indicator of environmental recovery processes in revegetated areas. This research is a part of the monitoring actions included in the Breña’s Compensation Project, linked to the construction of the Breña II damp. It is aimed to assess the biodiversity of the Orthopteran assemblages settled in the restored river copses after nine years following (2007-2016). The results will be interpreted as an indirect measure of the success of the environmental improvement performed. In 2016, two forest farms named “Las Mesas” and “Cerro del Trigo” located in the Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park (Córdoba, Southern Iberian Peninsula) were selected for monitoring. These sampling sites were also selected in a previous following phase, which makes comparisons easier and more reliable. At each of these sampling sites, two revegetated enclosures corresponding to the environmental model “restored river copses” and their respective control areas were selected for the study. From the values of the specimen’s number recorded in each sampling plot, the same population indices that in the previous phase (Richness, Abundance, Dominance, Shannon Diversity, and Evenness) were calculated. The diversity profiles using Rényi’s family of uni-parametric diversity indices were also obtained. Differences in the indices were statistically tested by resampling bootstrapping for inferential statistics. Based on our results, the environmental differences between revegetated and control areas have not led to significant changes in the composition and structure of the orthopteran communities they host. In consequence, the environmental restoration carried out in the study area has not been as successful as could be expected and the previous environmental alterations have not been minimized nor have those derived from the environmental rehabilitation itself been compensated.