Estudo da diversidade da fauna flebotomínea em relação a estádios sucessionais de floresta baseados em modelo digital de superfície.

This paper presents a preliminary study that investigates the relationship between sand fly species (Leishmaniasis vector) and the successional stages of a tropical forest in the West of São Paulo State. The hypothesis is that trees in mature stage may contribute to a greater diversity of phlebotomine species. For technical application, successional stages are determined based on analysis of dense digital surface model (DSM), derived from RGB images, in which local variances of tree heights are calculated to generate a classification. The forest canopy is split into three stages to represent the current forest status (pioneer, intermediate and mature). Field surveys were performed with CDC traps to collect insects at four points inside the forest. Twelve different phlebotomine species were found in the sampling areas. Coefficients of similarity, diversity and richness were calculated for a statistical analysis of the species, which were also correlated with successional stages. The results showed greater species diversity in mature forest areas and less species diversity in primary regeneration area, which is important for understanding the development of phlebotomine species. Furthermore, remote sensing/photogrammetry techniques also showed that can be used as a support for the study of diversity, in which the vertical variation (tree height) can be mapped to determine the successional stage.