Supplementary material from "Increased eutrophication influences reproductive and territorial behavior of adult dragonflies in Andean habitats."

Dragonflies and damselflies provide crucial insights into environmental health as bioindicators of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, making it essential to study eutrophication effects on their populations. These insects exhibit diverse reproductive and territorial behaviors, which may be the first response to environmental disturbances. We hypothesized that eutrophication disrupts physiology and alters energy investment, affecting nutritional status and time allocation to territorial and reproductive behaviors. We estimated flight capacity and body condition-related traits in two sympatric dragonfly species at 12 sites along an eutrophication gradient, and recorded their territorial and reproductive behaviors. We determined the effects of eutrophication, body condition, and flight capacity-related traits on reproductive and territorial behaviors and analyzed them according to sex and species. We found that increased eutrophication reduced on males the time allocated to territoriality and interspecific interactions, but increased the time spent in copulation and guarding females during oviposition. However, time spent for females in reproduction (e.g. copulation and oviposition) was positively related to eutrophication in E. abjecta but negatively related in S. gilvum. These differential responses indicate species-specific adaptive responses; however, the general reduction in behavioral duration suggests that physiological constraints imposed by altered environments may limit energy allocation for key activities in odonates.