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Diversity
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Diversity, Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation of Arthropods
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Diversity, Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation of Arthropods

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 2769

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Jaime Pizarro-Araya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Entomología Ecológica, Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, La Serena, Chile
Interests: arthropod biodiversity; taxonomic inventories; knowledge gaps; arthropod conservation; species discovery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arthropods represent one of the most diverse and abundant groups in the animal kingdom, playing crucial roles in numerous ecosystems around the world. However, their biodiversity faces multiple threats due to anthropogenic factors such as deforestation, climate change, pollution, and urban expansion. Habitat loss and unsustainable agricultural practices also contribute to the decline of many arthropod species, which can have drastic consequences for ecological stability and ecosystem services.

This Special Issue of Diversity focuses on arthropod biodiversity, threats, and conservation, seeking to highlight novel research and innovative approaches to address these challenges. We invite researchers to submit studies ranging from biodiversity assessments and risk analyses to habitat conservation and restoration strategies. In addition, works that explore the biology and ecology of specific species will be valued, as well as research on the impact of environmental changes on arthropod populations.

We hope that this Special Issue will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange and foster interdisciplinary collaborations, helping to develop effective solutions for the conservation of these vital and fascinating organisms.

Prof. Jaime Pizarro-Araya
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biodiversity
  • arthropod conservation
  • environmental threats
  • climate change
  • habitat loss
  • ecosystem services
  • habitat restoration

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1727 KiB  
Article
Endemic Species of Butterflies: Importance of Protected Areas in Tropical Montane Endemism Conservation
by Mónica Higuera-Díaz, Andrea León-Parra and Giovanny Fagua
Diversity 2025, 17(8), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17080536 - 31 Jul 2025
Viewed by 230
Abstract
Protected areas play a key role in containing and protecting most of the endemic biodiversity of megadiverse places, underscoring their importance as custodians of biological richness. Colombia, one of the most species-rich countries, also has one of the highest rates of deforestation globally. [...] Read more.
Protected areas play a key role in containing and protecting most of the endemic biodiversity of megadiverse places, underscoring their importance as custodians of biological richness. Colombia, one of the most species-rich countries, also has one of the highest rates of deforestation globally. The Colombian National Natural Parks (NNPs) system is one of the mechanisms for protecting natural landscape ecosystems and biota. Based on the role of butterflies as bioindicators in biodiversity mapping, we compiled records of endemic butterfly species from entomological collections and the literature to assess the importance of protected areas in endemic species conservation. The NNPs harbor records of 127 endemic species, representing 65% of the 196 endemic butterfly species recorded in Colombia. Most of these endemic species, 93 species, have been recorded in only one NNP, here defined as “unique” species. These species are mainly distributed along the Andes Cordillera. Among all the NNPs, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta holds the highest number of both total and unique endemic species. Extrapolating this pattern to the broader Andean Biota supports the idea that protected areas play a key role in containing and protecting much of Northern South American endemic biodiversity, underscoring their importance as custodians of biological richness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation of Arthropods)
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13 pages, 2193 KiB  
Article
Microbiota Anatomical Niche Partitioning of Simulium vanluni (Diptera: Simuliidae)
by Noor Izwan-Anas, Van Lun Low, Zubaidah Ya’cob, Sazaly AbuBakar and Kim-Kee Tan
Diversity 2025, 17(8), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17080504 - 23 Jul 2025
Viewed by 276
Abstract
Background: Microbial communities of insects have distinct roles for their respective hosts. For the black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae), an important vector and ecological indicator, the representative microbiota from the different body regions are not known. Here, we investigated the microbial composition and diversity [...] Read more.
Background: Microbial communities of insects have distinct roles for their respective hosts. For the black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae), an important vector and ecological indicator, the representative microbiota from the different body regions are not known. Here, we investigated the microbial composition and diversity of the head, thorax, and abdomen of wild-caught Simulium vanluni. Methods: Adult Simulium vanluni were surface-sterilized and dissected into head, thorax, and abdomen. For each body region, 20 individuals were pooled into one sample with six replicates per region. DNA was extracted and sequenced using the 16S rRNA amplification method to assess for possible microbial diversity. Data were analyzed using MicrobiomeAnalyst, where we calculated alpha diversity, beta diversity, and tested compositional differences using PERMANOVA. Results: Across 17 pooled samples, three core genera, Wolbachia (78.33%), Rickettsia (9.74%), and Acinetobacter (9.20%), accounted for more than 97% of the 16S rRNA sequencing reads. Head communities were compositionally distinct compared to the thorax and abdomen (PERMANOVA, p < 0.05). Heads were nearly monodominated by Wolbachia (95–97%), exhibiting significantly lower diversity and evenness compared to other body regions. In contrast, the thoracic and abdominal communities were more even, where thoraces were enriched with Acinetobacter (19.16%) relative to Rickettsia (10.85%), while abdomens harbored higher Rickettsia (10.96%) than Acinetobacter (5.68%). Collectively, the near-monodominance of Wolbachia in heads and inverse abundances of Acinetobacter and Rickettsia in thoraces and abdomens suggest possible anatomical niche partitioning or competition exclusion of microbiota across body regions. Conclusions: Our findings reveal fine-scale anatomical niche partitioning in S. vanluni microbiota, with the heads being almost exclusively colonized by Wolbachia, while the thoracic and abdominal niche regions exhibit distinct enrichment patterns for Acinetobacter and Rickettsia. These spatially distinct microbial distributions suggest potential functional specialization across anatomical regions of S. vanluni. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation of Arthropods)
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13 pages, 4116 KiB  
Article
A New Species of the Medically Important Scorpion Genus, Hemiscorpius Peters, 1861 (Hemiscorpiidae), from Southern Iran
by Esmaeil Amiri Ghanat Saman, Hossein Barahoei, Hossein Dehghan, Mohammad Ali Oshaghi, Javad Rafinejad, Amrollah Azarm and Lorenzo Prendini
Diversity 2025, 17(5), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17050321 - 28 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1662
Abstract
Seven species of Hemiscorpius Peters, 1861 have been recorded in Iran. Due to the medical importance of this genus, the scorpion populations of southern Kerman Province, in the south of Iran, were studied. Scorpion specimens were collected in 2023 and 2024 from mountainous [...] Read more.
Seven species of Hemiscorpius Peters, 1861 have been recorded in Iran. Due to the medical importance of this genus, the scorpion populations of southern Kerman Province, in the south of Iran, were studied. Scorpion specimens were collected in 2023 and 2024 from mountainous areas in Bam and Jiroft counties. Morphological, morphometric, and molecular data revealed a new species, described herein as Hemiscorpius jiroftensis sp. n. The genetic distances between the new species and other species of Hemiscorpius varied from 0.105 with samples of H. lepturus from Iran to 0.138 with samples of H. enischnochela. The Jebal Barez Mountains appear to have provided a geographical barrier, separating the new species from its closest relative, Hemiscorpius acanthocercus Monod & Lourenço, 2005. It is important to understand the geographical distributions and morphological differences among the species of Hemiscorpius to implement appropriate medical responses to envenomation by these scorpions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation of Arthropods)
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