Leaf damage in a mangrove swamp at Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

-(Leaf damage in a mangrove swamp at Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Leaf damage to Rhizophora mangle L., Avicennia schaueriana Stapf. & Leechman, and Laguncularia racemosa L. was studied in a two hectare mangrove swamp site in Sepetiba Bay. Seventeen arthropod morphospecies were identifi ed as being responsible for the damage, and their species diversity was highest on A. schaueriana, followed by R. mangle and L. racemosa. Damage in terms of relative area was greatest in L. racemosa. Almost 9% of mangrove canopy leaf area demonstrated some damage. Loss of leaf area to herbivory was 12.1%, 8.3% and 6.2% in L. racemosa, A. schaueriana and R. mangle respectively. L. racemosa and A. schaueriana showed high percentages of leaf-margin damage in terms of the total damaged leaf area (82.2% and 56.3% respectively), while the most important type of damage in R. mangle was necrosis, representing 58.1% of the total damaged leaf area.

A tale of two haplotype groups: evaluating the New WorldJunoniaring species hypothesis using the distribution of divergentCOIhaplotypes

“…Because in most instances, COI haplotypes are not confined to particular species in Junonia and occur at very similar frequencies in all species found in a given country (or sub‐region), we combined specimens from all species to calculate and map the haplotype group frequencies geographically. For comparison, species and selected subspecies ranges were determined from collection localities of specimens in our research collection and from published reports, and were plotted onto the same map (Forbes, ; Turner & Parnell, ; Brown et al ., ; Elster et al ., ; Neild, ; Menezes & Peixoto, ; Pfeiler, ; Brévignon & Brévignon, ; Gernaat et al ., ; Pfeiler et al ., ,).…”

Are the Species of the Genus Avicennia L. (Acanthaceae) a “Superhost” Plants of Gall-Inducing Arthropods in Mangrove Forests?

“…Regarding A. schaueriana, at least three species of Cecidomyiidae are involved in leaf gallinducing in this species, two in southeastern Brazil, Meunieriella avicennae (= Cecidomyia avicennae) and an undetermined (Maia et al, 2008;Menezes & Peixoto, 2009), and another in the northern region (present study).…”

“…The vast majority of the studies of herbivory by insects in mangrove forests have focused on leaf-chewing species (Cannicci et al 2008), adding the fact that little is known about interactions involving endophytic forms such as leaf miners or gall-inducing species Burrows 2003;Menezes & Peixoto 2009 (WORMS 2010). Based on the fact that the genus Avicennia presents a great variety of gall morphotypes and hence many gall-inducing arthropods, the present study aims to review this plant-gall association describing what is known so far, and to verify whether the species of Avicennia are "superhost" plants of tropical mangrove forests.…”

First report of Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae) as a larval host of Junonia litoralis (Nymphalidae) causing higher foliar damage in seedlings than trees

“…Nevertheless, mangrove herbivory investigated at several locations revealed a complex pattern of responses that suggest correlations with latitude, climate, seasonality, nutrient availability, and mode of feeding, resulting in dramatic within‐species fluctuation in damage levels (Duke, 2002; Erickson et al, 2004; Farnsworth & Ellison, 1991; Feller, 2002; Feller et al, 2013; Lacerda et al, 1986; Menezes & Piexoto, 2009; Onuf et al, 1977; Tong et al, 2006). Herbivores implicated include chewer or driller insects such as caterpillars of butterfly and moth species, beetles, termites, and psyllids or transients such as crickets and katydids (Cannicci et al, 2008; Feller et al, 2007; Feller et al, 2013; Feller & Chamberlain, 2007; Kathiresan, 2003; Offenberg et al, 2004; Robertson, 1991).…”