Cerrado to Rupestrian Grasslands: Patterns of Species Distribution and the Forces Shaping Them Along an Altitudinal Gradient

Fernandes, G. Wilson; Almeida, Hernani A.; Nunes, Cássio Alencar; Xavier, João Henrique A.; Cobb, Neil S.; Carneiro, Marco Antônio Alves; Cornelissen, Tatiana; Neves, Frederico S.; Ribeiro, Sérvio Pontes; Nunes, Yule Roberta Ferreira; Pires, None Ana Carolina Vieira; Beirão, Marina do Vale

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-29808-5_15

Cited by 35 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 106 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the richness and abundance of sap‐sucking insects were higher at the intermediate elevation, whereas for chewing insects they were higher at the highest elevation. These results are in contrast to studies on other insect groups in the study area, such as dung beetles, termites and ants (Fernandes et al ), and on a multi‐taxa community on Mt. Kilimanjaro (Peters et al ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Climatic variation along the sampled elevation gradient (e.g. precipitation and temperature) (see Fernandes et al ) may affect the availability and quality of host plants and promote changes in the networks of interactions (see Rasmann et al ; Dáttilo & Rico‐Gray ) as found in our study. Our results are similar to those found in studies conducted in the Chilean Andes and mountains in eastern Australia, where the number of interactions (plant–pollinator system) decreased with increasing elevation (Ramos‐Jiliberto et al ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…Differences in vegetation structure and environmental conditions among elevations are likely responsible for altering the herbivorous insect species composition associated with B. dracunculifolia. The Cerrado vegetation being more common at lower elevations, and campo rupestre vegetation being more common at higher elevations (Mota et al ) and a difference of ~4°C was observed between the lowest (800 m) and the highest (1400 m) areas of our study site (Fernandes et al ). Changes in temperature and vegetation structure have often been linked to substantial effects on the development and survival of many insect groups (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

“…Despite the presence of the host plant throughout the elevation gradient, climatic differences among elevations may have filtered the species of herbivorous insects able to survive and succeed at different elevations. Since higher elevations have greater climatic severity (Lawton et al, ), such as higher wind speeds and solar radiation (Hodinkson ) and lower temperatures (Fernandes et al, ), climatic conditions are likely responsible for altering the herbivorous insect species composition associated with B. dracunculifolia .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the tropics, wind speed and solar radiation are more impactful at higher elevations, while temperature and primary productivity are lower; factors that play essential roles in determining species diversity and community structure (e.g. Fernandes & Price 1988;Lara et al 2002;Fernandes et al 2016;Longino & Branstetter 2018). Indeed, studies have found greater insect diversity at lower elevations (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Ecological interactions among insect herbivores, ants and the host plant Baccharis dracunculifolia in a Brazilian mountain ecosystem

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Insect–plant interactions occur in several ways and have considerable environmental and ecological importance. Many feeding strategies have evolved among herbivorous insects, with host–herbivore systems likely being influenced by trophobionts with ants. We investigated how these interactions vary across elevation gradients by evaluating the structure of the herbivorous insect community and ants associated with Baccharis dracunculifolia at three distinct elevations (800, 1100, and 1400 m a.s.l.) on a mountain in southeastern Brazil. Moreover, we evaluated the diversity and specialisation of interactions between herbivores and host plants along the elevational gradient. We sampled herbivores and ants on 60 plants at each elevation (totalling 180 plant individuals). Herbivore species composition differed among elevations, as did interaction diversity and specialisation. Richness and abundance of chewing insects increased with elevation, while β‐diversity among patches of the host plant was higher at the lowest elevation, probably due to the patchy occurrence of B. dracunculifolia. Richness and abundance of sap‐sucking insects were higher at the intermediate elevation, possibly due to local environmental conditions. We observed a positive relationship between ant and herbivore trophobiont richness on B. dracunculifolia. We found that interactions were more specialised and less diverse at higher elevations compared to the lowest elevation. Changes in vegetation and environmental variables shaped species distributions and their ecological interactions along the elevation gradient. Our study demonstrates that increased elevation changes the structure and patterns of interactions of the herbivore insect guilds associated with the host plant B. dracunculifolia. Ant effects depend on the context, the environment, and the species of ants involved, and are essential for the presence of insect trophobionts.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%