Inventorying biodiversity at National Park of La Caldera de Taburiente (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain): scientific novelties

Abstract

This paper is the first result of an agreement between the Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, entitled “Inventory and study of the Invertebrate Fauna of the National Park of La Caldera de Taburiente”. A detailed account of the faunistic novelties found up to now among the specimens of terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates collected along the two years of sampling (July 1999 to July 2001), whose number is estimated in ca. 500,000, is given. A brief description of planning and of methodology applied to the inventory of the invertebrate fauna is made and a tabulated summary of novelties is presented. The list shows at present 284 families, 594 genera and 739 species. For the Canary Islands, the present record of new taxa is 29 families, 115 genera (1 of them confirmed as new to Science and 3 awaiting confirmation) and 187 species (24 new to Science). Moreover, 242 genera and 338 species are new to the fauna of La Palma I., being known from other islands of the archipelago. Other 47 taxa, still being studied, could be new to Science as well. These results have been reached with the study of just a minimal part of the whole material, which underlines the need for systematic, continued sampling to evaluate the faunistic richness of poorly explored areas and its possible necessity for protection. Therefore, one should expect more novelties and the inventory may increase significantly when all the material is revised.