Open Access

Zohreh Eslami, Mehregan Ebrahimi, Saber Sadeghi

• A total of 20 Odonata species were recorded from 15 water bodies (3 natural water bodies and 12 manmade reservoirs) in a desert landscape west of the Namak Lake in the northwest of the Central Plateau of Iran, from 27 May to 20 June, 2017. The study area included Qom province and the northern part of Esfahan province (34.07 to 35.14 N, 51.33 to 50.89 E). For Qom province, 17 out of 18 species found are new provincial records. In addition Selysiothemis nigra, Orthetrum chrysostigma and Orthetrum taeniolatum are new findings for Esfahan province. The species around the manmade reservoirs are characterized by a broad ecological amplitude ("generalists") while species assemblages of natural water bodies consisted of more sensitive species. In the arid climate of central part of Iran, manmade reservoirs are major habitats for Odonata species. Although these reservoirs have increased the amount of habitat for generalist species, they do not foster sensitive and specialist species. Furthermore, considering the more intense droughts predicted for these areas in the future, and the current scenario of environmental degradation, some sensitive species may be in danger of local extinction.