The conservation status of southern South American aquatic insects in the literature

We provide a comprehensive review of publications regarding the conservation of aquatic and terrestrial insects at a global scale and with an emphasis on southern South America. We reviewed three prominent conservation journals (Conservation Biology, Biodiversity and Conservation, and Biological Conservation) and found that only 5 % of all the works published between 1995 and 2008 focus on the conservation of aquatic insects. The highest percentage of publications on the conservation of aquatic insects comes from Europe (2.3 %), while the lowest percentage comes from South America (0.1 %). To assess the trends of aquatic insect research in southern South America, we conducted a literature search using Zoological Records, Biological Abstracts, and Current Contents. We conclude that there is a gap in research regarding the conservation of freshwater and terrestrial insects, as reflected by the low amount of publications that specifically focus on the description and identification of new insect species and their conservation. In order to help overcome this gap in conservation research, we propose three ideas that could help enhance the research and conservation initiatives regarding these organisms: (1) focus research on understudied regions of the world, such as the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion, (2) increase the amount of funding available for taxonomic research focused on the description and identification of new aquatic and terrestrial insect species, and (3) increase the amount of public education programs which focus on field experiences and direct encounters with aquatic insect biodiversity and their habitats.