| This work aimed to assess the effect of certain physical-chemical variables and the Habitat Integrity Index (HII) have on an aquatic and semi-aquatic heteropteran community. We collected in five streams (from 1st to 4th order) that differed in habitat integrity, in order to test 1) whether heteropteran richness decreases with the Habitat Integrity Index; and 2) whether richness responds to alterations in water physical-chemical variables, since these influence community structure. In each stream, linear transects of 100 m were demarcated. A total of 1425 specimens from 10 families, 30 genera and 67 morphospecies were collected. Species richness was correlated with the Habitat Integrity Index (HII), showing a positive relationship only for Gerromorpha. This... |
