Aquatic life in Neotropical rainforest canopies: Techniques using artificial phytotelmata to study the invertebrate communities inhabiting therein

Abstract

In Neotropical rainforest canopies, phytotelmata ("plant-held waters") shelter diverse aquatic macroinvertebrate communities, including vectors of animal diseases. Studying these communities is difficult because phytotelmata are widely dispersed, hard to find from the ground and often inaccessible. We propose here a method for placing in tree crowns "artificial phytotelmata" whose size and shape can be tailored to different research targets. The efficacy of this method was shown while comparing the patterns of community diversity of three forest formations. We noted a difference between a riparian forest and a rainforest, whereas trees alongside a dirt road cutting through that rainforest corresponded to a subset of the latter. Because rarefied species richness was significantly lower when the phytotelmata were left for three weeks rather than for six or nine weeks, we recommend leaving the phytotelmata for twelve weeks to permit predators and phoretic species to fully establish themselves.

Phytotelmata accounts for Aedes breeding places in Mantup Sub-district, Lamongan District, Indonesia

“…Consequently, phytotelmata are pertinent natural microecosystems that can be comprehensively sampled and provide objective records of community-level diversity for investigating various topics. They also indicate environmental influences on community assembly (Dejean et al 2018). Some reports have already been published about the phytotelmata distribution in Indonesia, which consists of bromeliads, coconut shells, tree holes, etc.…”

An arboreal spider protects its offspring by diving into the water of tank bromeliads

“…In Quintana Roo, Mexico, the host tank bromeliad is Aechmea bracteata that has groups of shoots at different ontogenetic stages, each forming a rosette with numerous water reservoirs or phytotelmata [12]. Tank bromeliads shelter various terrestrial and aquatic organisms [12][13][14][15]; among them, emerging winged insects are potential prey for spiders [5].…”