Ecology of tropical butterflies in rainforest gaps

Hill, Jane K.; Hamer, Keith C.; Tangah, Joseph; Dawood, Mahadimenakbar Mohd

doi:10.1007/s004420100651

Cited by 134 publications

(165 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(58 reference statements)

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“…While in some taxa species richness is more pronounced in one vegetation layer, others contribute equally to lower strata as well as the upper canopy (e.g., DeVries et al 1997, Schulze et al 2001, Stork and Grimbacher 2006. Natural and anthropogenic forest disturbance can cause a breakdown of vertical stratification as documented for butterflies in selectively logged forest (Dumbrell andHill 2005, Fermon et al 2005), at tree-fall gaps (Hill et al 2001), and forest edges (DeVries et al 1997). Consequently, lower vegetation strata at agroforestry sites, particularly sites at the forest edge, may be characterized by a rich mixture of canopy and understory species, while lower vegetation strata of forest interior sites are characterized predominantly by relatively few forest understory species.…”

Section: Discussion a Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land‐use gradient

Kessler

Abrahamczyk

Bos

et al. 2009

Ecological Applications

124

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Assessing the overall biological diversity of tropical rain forests is a seemingly insurmountable task for ecologists. Therefore, researchers frequently sample selected taxa that they believe reflect general biodiversity patterns. Usually, these studies focus on the congruence of α diversity (the number of species found per sampling unit) between taxa rather than on β diversity (turnover of species assemblages between sampling units). Such approaches ignore the potential role of habitat heterogeneity that, depending on the taxonomic group considered, can greatly enhance β diversity at local and landscape scales. We compared α and β diversity of four plant groups (trees, lianas, terrestrial herbs, epiphytic liverworts) and eight animal groups (birds, butterflies, lower canopy ants, lower canopy beetles, dung beetles, bees, wasps, and the parasitoids of the latter two) at 15 sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia, that represented natural rain forest and three types of cacao agroforests differing in management intensity. In total, we recorded 863 species. Patterns of species richness per study site varied strongly between taxonomic groups. Only 13-17% of the variance in species richness of one taxonomic group could be predicted from the species richness of another, and on average 12-18% of the variance of β diversity of a given group was predicted by that in other groups, although some taxon pairs had higher values (up to 76% for wasps and their parasitoids). The degree of congruence of patterns of α diversity was not influenced by sampling completeness, whereas the indicator value for β diversity improved when using a similarity index that accounts for incomplete sampling. The indication potential of α diversity for β diversity and vice versa was limited within taxa (7-20%) and virtually nil between them (0-4%). We conclude that different taxa can have largely independent patterns of α diversity and that patterns of β diversity can be more congruent. Thus, conservation plans on a landscape scale need to put more emphasis on the high heterogeneity of agroforests and the overarching role of β diversity shaping overall diversity patterns. Abstract. Assessing the overall biological diversity of tropical rain forests is a seemingly insurmountable task for ecologists. Therefore, researchers frequently sample selected taxa that they believe reflect general biodiversity patterns. Usually, these studies focus on the congruence of a diversity (the number of species found per sampling unit) between taxa rather than on b diversity (turnover of species assemblages between sampling units). Such approaches ignore the potential role of habitat heterogeneity that, depending on the taxonomic group considered, can greatly enhance b diversity at local and landscape scales. We compared a and b diversity of four plant groups (trees, lianas, terrestrial herbs, epiphytic liverworts) and eight animal groups (birds, butterflies, lower canopy ants, lower canopy beetles, dung beetles, bees, wasps, and the parasitoids of the latter two) at 15 ...

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Section: Discussion a Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land‐use gradient

Kessler

Abrahamczyk

Bos

et al. 2009

Ecological Applications

124

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“…The more diverse plants are, the more diverse insects are [14,25]. In additional, the disturbed forests have more openings that provide more light and spaces to attract more butterfly species than the natural forests [15,26]. The disturbed forests also have more flowering plants that obviously support more butterfly species than Note: Habitats as Figure 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity Pattern of Butterfly Communities (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidae) in Different Habitat Types in a Tropical Rain Forest of Southern Vietnam

Vu²

2011

ISRN Zoology

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A total of 112 species with 1703 individuals of Papilionoidae (except Lycaenidae) were recorded. The proportion of rare species tends to decrease from the natural forest to the stream sides, while the proportion of common species tends to increase from the natural forest to the stream sides. The stream sides have the greatest individual number, while the disturbed forest contains the greatest species number. The bamboo forest has the least species and individual numbers. The stream side environment in the forest plays an important role in conserving butterfly abundance while the bamboo shows the poorest butterfly diversity.

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“…Relatively little research has dealt with group selection cutting and its effects on forest ecosystems, but several studies have found insect abundance to be greater in canopy gaps than in closed forest (Hill et al 2001, Gorham et al 2002, Koivula and Niemelae 2003. Some studies suggest otherwise (Shelly 1988), but others involving insect predators (bats, Menzel et al 2002;treefrogs, Cromer et al 2002, Horn et al 2005; and birds, Kilgo et al 1999) lend support to the conclusion that gaps generally do contain greater abundances of insects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbivorous Insect Response to Group Selection Cutting in a Southeastern Bottomland Hardwood Forest

et al. 2005

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Malaise and pitfall traps were used to sample herbivorous insects in canopy gaps created by group-selection cutting in a bottomland hardwood forest in South Carolina. The traps were placed at the centers, edges, and in the forest adjacent to gaps of different sizes (0.13, 0.26, and 0.50 ha) and ages (1 and 7 yr old) during four sampling periods in 2001. Overall, the abundance and species richness of insect herbivores were greater at the centers of young gaps than at the edge of young gaps or in the forest surrounding young gaps. There were no differences in abundance or species richness among old gap locations (i.e., centers, edges, and forest), and we collected signiÞcantly more insects in young gaps than old gaps. The insect communities in old gaps were more similar to the forests surrounding them than young gap communities were to their respective forest locations, but the insect communities in the two forests locations (surrounding young and old gaps) had the highest percent similarity of all. Although both abundance and richness increased in the centers of young gaps with increasing gap size, these differences were not signiÞcant. We attribute the increased numbers of herbivorous insects to the greater abundance of herbaceous plants available in young gaps.KEY WORDS selection cutting, uneven-aged silviculture, forest openings, forest management WHILE THE EFFECTS OF insect herbivory on plant communities and rates of succession have been well studied (Breedlove and Ehrlich 1968, Brown 1984, Hendrix et al. 1988, Brown and Gange 1992, McBrien et al. 1983, relatively little is known about how plant succession affects herbivorous insects (Bach 1990). Given the relative abundance of young herbaceous growth in early stages of succession, one might expect to Þnd increased numbers of herbivorous insects there compared with more mature habitats. Indeed, past work recognizes the importance of increasing taxonomic and structural diversity of plants to the creation and maintenance of a diverse insect community during succession (Murdoch et al. 1972, Lawton 1978, Southwood et al. 1979, and several features of the plants themselves may encourage herbivory in recently created habitats. These include increased nutrient levels (i.e., soluble nitrogen) in plant tissues (Boardman 1977, McNeill and Southwood 1978, Mattson 1980, reduced plant defenses in many pioneer species (Coley 1983, Lawton andMcNeill 1979), and increased consumption and growth rates of herbivorous insects that feed on plants receiving direct sunlight (White 1978, Scriber andSlansky 1981). The situation is complicated by a number of factors that seem to discourage herbivory, however. For example, increased light levels may be beneÞcial in terms of insect growth rates, but they have also been shown to increase the toughness of leaves and, in some cases, the concentration of defensive compounds (Shure and Wilson 1993).In many forests, canopy gaps created by treefalls, wind damage, and other minor events serve as important centers of plant growth and su...

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Ecology of tropical butterflies in rainforest gaps

Cited by 134 publications

References 48 publications

Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land‐use gradient

Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land‐use gradient

Diversity Pattern of Butterfly Communities (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidae) in Different Habitat Types in a Tropical Rain Forest of Southern Vietnam

Herbivorous Insect Response to Group Selection Cutting in a Southeastern Bottomland Hardwood Forest

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