Nature-Based Solutions: Examining the Effects of Small Artificial Ponds on Insect Diversity and Their Implications for the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region

Small artificial ponds, known as barraginhas, play a crucial role in providing essential ecosystem services such as soil and water conservation in semi-arid regions. Despite their effectiveness and widespread use in the Brazilian semi-arid region, their effects on biodiversity remain unexplored. Here, we conducted a field experiment to evaluate whether barraginhas constructed along roads to prevent soil erosion influence the diversity of terrestrial insects, specifically ants and beetles. A total of four sampling events were conducted at the beginning and end of both the dry and rainy seasons to assess the effects of the interaction between barraginhas and intra- and interseasonal variation on beetle and ant assemblages. Overall, ant species richness was higher at the end of the rainy season, whereas beetle species richness peaked at the beginning of the rainy season, followed by a secondary peak at the end of rainy season. Importantly, our results showed that barraginhas did not affect beetle richness, whereas ant species richness was significantly higher in barraginha treatment at the end of the rainy season. This seasonal pattern should be interpreted cautiously, as no consistent effect of barraginhas on ant species richness was detected across sampling periods. Ant species composition varied across all sampling months but was not influenced by barraginhas. Similarly, beetle species composition was unaffected by barraginhas and did not differ among the analyzed sampling moths. Given the ecological and economic importance of insects and their global decline across many taxa and functional groups, initiatives to promote conservation and enhance local biodiversity are critical. Finally, we suggest conducting similar studies in different environments and across various taxonomic groups, including plants, other invertebrates, and vertebrates, since barraginhas can also contribute to biodiversity enhancement specially in arid and semi-arid regions.