Odonata Diversity and Synanthropy in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Avellaneda City, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The increase of human population, especially in urban areas, correlates with an alarming destruction of green spaces. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which urbanization processes affect biodiversity is crucial in integrating the environment in a proper urban planning. The main urban center of Argentina is known as the Greater Buenos Aires (GBA), and it includes the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and 24 surrounding districts. Avellaneda, one of the districts of the GBA, is an important urban and industrial center with green areas and low level of urbanization on the coastal area of the Rio de la Plata. This paper provides the first Odonata inventory for Avellaneda, determines the species' level of synanthropy with the Nuorteva index, and assess the Odonata species replacement along a latitudinal gradient on the occidental margin of the Rio de la Plata.