Community and Species-Level Changes of Insect Species Visiting Mangifera indica Flowers Following Hurricane María: “The Devil Is in the Details”

Abstract

Mangifera indica is a widespread economically important tropical fruit. An ongoing study at the Juana Diaz Experimental Station in Puerto Rico aims to understand the factors that influence local pollination success and fruit yields in four fields each hosting a different mango cultivar (Keitt, Kent, Tommy Atkins, and Julie) at different temporal scales. Here we describe the results of insect collection campaigns that evaluated flower visitor communities of these fields (from January to April) in the seasons of 2017 (before Hurricane Maria), 2018 (after Hurricane Maria) and 2019 (2 years after Hurricane Maria). We expected a reduction in diversity, abundance and yields and even changes in composition following the hurricane events of 2017. Over the 3 years, plants were visited by a combined total of 50 insect species, mostly Diptera (also the most abundant), Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera. The relative abundances of insect communities changed but overall species richness of insect communities appeared to be recovering by 2019. A clear decline in overall crop yields for two of the four fields (hosting Kent and Tommy Atkins) was seen in 2018 but then recovered in one and surpassed pre-hurricane levels in another in 2019. Mango trees experienced an increase in the abundance for all insect groups in 2019 following the 2018 decline and only one field (hosting Kent) experienced significant species richness declines in 2018. Two of the most dominant insects, Palpada vinetorum (Diptera) and Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera), showed a “reduction-recovery” pattern for the period of 2018–2019 but not so for Cochliomyia minina which was very abundant in 2018 in three out of four cultivars but then returned to pre-hurricane levels in 2019. In 2017, the trees exposed to higher richness and abundance of species experienced higher yields regardless of cultivars but these relationships when present were often weaker in 2018 (post-hurricane) and 2019 and not all cultivars were equally successful at attracting the same levels of diversity and abundance of insects. Our results do support the importance of pollinator diversity and abundance to improve agricultural yields. They also emphasize that within the context of future extreme atmospheric events, that there needs to be an understanding of not only how these pollinator communities may recover from these events but also of how individual pollinators (vs. other factors) may influence plant yields to develop informed management strategies following such events.

Hurricane‐associated population decrease in a critically endangered long‐lived reptile

“…Effect assessments of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season demonstrate its broad impact on ecosystems and their trophic levels; for example, beach, mangrove, and forest ecosystems (Barreto‐Orta et al, 2019; Hall et al, 2020; Liu et al, 2018; Walcker et al, 2019), salt and freshwater fish communities (Meléndez‐Vazquez et al, 2019; Neal et al, 2020), insect species and communities (Cabrera‐Asencio & Meléndez‐Ackerman, 2021), birds (Lloyd et al, 2019; Palmer et al, 2018), and sea slugs (Middlebrooks et al, 2020). For St. Eustatius specifically, our data add to the understanding of an ecosystem‐wide hurricane impact during 2017 which, besides iguanas, affected forests (Eppinga & Pucko, 2018), as well as populations of Bridled Quail‐dove (River‐Milan et al, 2021) and Red‐bellied racer (Madden et al, 2021).…”

Hurricane-induced population decrease in a Critically Endangered long-lived reptile

“…Effect assessments of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season are demonstrating its broad impact on ecosystems and their trophic levels; e.g., beach, mangrove and forest ecosystems (Liu et al 2018; Barreto-Orta et al 2019; Walker et al 2019; Hall et al 2020), salt- and freshwater fish communities (Meléndez-Vazquez et al 2019; Neal et al 2020), insect species and communities (Cabrera-Asencio and Meléndez-Ackerman 2021), birds (Palmer et al 2018; Lloyd et al 2019), and seas slugs (Middlebrooks et al 2020). For St. Eustatius specifically, our data adds to the understanding of an ecosystem-wide hurricane impact during 2017 which, besides iguanas, affected both forests (Eppinga and Pucko 2018) and the populations of Bridled Quail-dove (Rivera-Milán et al 2021) and Red-bellied racer (Madden et al 2021).…”

Lepidoptera research in Puerto Rico: Reconnecting with historical legacies to guide future priorities

“…Additionally, despite overall pollinator decline and plant defoliation immediately following hurricanes, plant–pollinator relationships involving Lepidoptera display adaptability and resilience (Ackerman & Moya, 1996; Cabrera‐Asencio & Meléndez‐Ackerman, 2021). More work is needed to understand the long‐term effects of hurricane damage on Lepidoptera populations.…”

“…Pollination of tropical crops is predominately facilitated by insect visitors in the order Hymenoptera, though adult butterflies and moths also play a documented role (Roubik, 1995). For example, a recent study in Puerto Rico found that Lepidopterans were among 50 mango crop pollinator species ( Mangifera indica ; Cabrera‐Asencio & Meléndez‐Ackerman, 2021). While it is challenging to elucidate general patterns regarding pollination efficiency across tropical crops, a worldwide literature search concluded that the families Nymphalidae and Pieridae may be the most significant crop pollinators within Lepidoptera (Rader et al., 2020).…”