Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 84 (4): 465-480, 2011
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Distributional patterns of Geometridae of the Biobío Region, Chile: An approach
for their conservation
The Biobio Region in south-central Chile is a climatic transition area where
temperate and sclerophyllous forests co-occur, generating a high diversity zone. However, the area has been strongly
affected by antropic intervention and only a few relicts of native forest and shrubland are left. Geometrid moths, like many
other insects, are closely associated to the vegetation and therefore they will be directly affected by antropic intervention.
Thus, in this study we assessed the patterns of distribution and diversity of geometrids in the Biobio Region, aiming to
propose high-priority sites for conservation by identifying endemism areas and diversity hot spots. The available data were
processed by parsimony analysis of endemism and complementarity analysis, helped by GIS, for to fill up records and to
extrapolate the distribution of some species according to established criteria. We found a diversity of 120 geometrid
species, corresponding to 37.5 % of the Chilean diversity, distributed in six endemism areas located in the most frequent
vegetational formations in the Biobio region: the Nahuelbuta high-mountain forest, the sclerophyllous forest of sandy
grounds, the deciduous forest of Concepción, the Andean deciduous forest of the Biobío, and the deciduous forest of the
frontier. Complementarity analysis revealed that there were 18 square plots which included the total number of species in
the region. Based on the above analyses, we determined that five areas should be considered as high-priority sites for the
conservation of geometrids: (1) the western slope of the Nahuelbuta mountain range and its adjacent coastal sector, (2) the
Pencopolitan area of the coastal zone of the region, (3) Cerro Negro-Quillón, (4) Las Trancas, and (5) the Alto Biobío-
Queuco valley zone.
Key words:
complementarity analysis, endemism, insect conservation, Lepidoptera, parsimony analysis of
endemism
