Predation as a Major Cost of Reproduction in Namib Desert Tenebrionid Beetles

Polis, Gary A.; Barnes, Joseph D.; Seely, Mary; Henschel, Joh R.; Enders, Margit M.

doi:10.2307/176845

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…This bias is generally considered as an artefact of the collecting method rather than a natural phenomenon (Punzo, 1998). Males of several arthropod groups exhibit greater activity on the ground and are thus more likely to be caught in pitfall traps (see discussion in Polis et al, 1998). Larger displacements by males of several arthropod species are considered as a behavioural strategy to increase encounters with females and, hence, their reproductive success (Polis et al, 1998).…”

Section: Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males of several arthropod groups exhibit greater activity on the ground and are thus more likely to be caught in pitfall traps (see discussion in Polis et al, 1998). Larger displacements by males of several arthropod species are considered as a behavioural strategy to increase encounters with females and, hence, their reproductive success (Polis et al, 1998). If this explanation is also true for solifuges, increased surface activity should occur mainly during the reproductive periods, when females are receptive to copulation.…”

Section: Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Description and ecology of a new species of sun spider (Arachnida: Solifugae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

Martins

Bonato²,

Machado

et al. 2004

Journal of Natural History

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A new species of solifuge from Sã o Paulo State, south-eastern Brazil, is described, together with its phenology, habitat use, activity pattern and the effect of fire on the population. Mummucia coaraciandu n. sp. differs from other Mummuciidae in cheliceral dentition and pleurite coloration. Over a one-year period, 649 individuals of M. coaraciandu were captured in 72 pitfall traps distributed in three Cerrado physiognomies: borders of gallery forest (N~53), campo sujo (N~561) and campo cerrado (N~35). The species is diurnal and showed two peaks of surface activity during the year: the highest peak occurred in the cold-dry season (June to July) and the smaller peak in the middle of the warm-wet season (December to February). The number of individuals per trap was negatively correlated with the mean monthly temperature, but showed no correlation with the monthly precipitation. The sex ratio was male-biased (7:1) and the number of males trapped was positively correlated with the number of reproductive females. More individuals were trapped in burned areas when compared with unburned areas 1 month after the fire. This difference between the two areas was not observed 1 month before and 3-4 months after the passage of the fire (when the vegetation had recovered). JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 2004, 38, 2361-2375 is the second solifuge described from the Brazilian Cerrado and its ecology is very similar to that of Mummucia mauryi from Caatinga vegetation.

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Section: Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Description and ecology of a new species of sun spider (Arachnida: Solifugae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

Martins

Bonato²,

Machado

et al. 2004

Journal of Natural History

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“…Several workers (Seely, 1985;Polis et al, 1998;Groner & Ayal, 2001) suggest that predation can influence beetle population sizes. Seely (1985) further argues that the differential predation (males suffer increased predation pressure) is a major cost of reproduction and can constrain sexual selection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental correlates of darkling beetle population size (Col. Tenebrionidae) on the Cañadas of Teide in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Santos

Alonso

Hernández

et al. 2002

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…This is because low primary productivity limits the amount of energy available to higher trophic levels and can be a likely mechanism that may limit the number of organisms in deserts. It was suggested that predators do not play an important role in the determination of the abundances and distributions of animal populations in desert habitats [14,15,42] though some field studies have demonstrated that desert predators have a role to play in determining the abundance and habitat segregation of their prey [19,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. A positive correlation between productivity level and the number of organisms at higher trophic levels has been suggested for a long time [22,29].…”

Section: Communities In the Desert Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Structure and Trophic Level Interactions in the Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Review

Tadesse¹

2017

IJAWB

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Community is one of the hierarchies of ecological organizations containing different species of organisms interacting in space and time. The structural components of the biotic communities are mainly composed of plants, animals, and microbes. This paper aims to review and discuss how community structures are organized and trophic level interactions function and shape the biological communities in the terrestrial ecosystems. For example, the paper reviewed and discussed community structure and trophic level interactions in the tropical rain forest, grassland, and desert ecosystems. The paper also examined how trophic cascades control the different populations in the terrestrial communities. The terrestrial biotic communities are functionally diversified and complex because the number of trophic levels increases with the increase in productivity gradients. Different factors may interact together and synergistically affect the biotic communities in the terrestrial ecosystems. For example, primary productivity of a system is markedly affected by precipitation, incident light, temperature, disturbance, nutrients, and resistance to herbivory and cascading food web effects. Thus, holistic approach should be sought for any conceptual models to explain patterns of productivity and biomass distribution in the terrestrial communities. This in turn would help to effectively simulate the community structure, trophic level interactions, and control of the terrestrial biotic communities with reference to specific spatial and temporal scale. Moreover, the role of behavior and life history traits, prey defenses versus prey tolerance, vertical and horizontal interactions are important factors which could affect the structure, complexity, and diversity of food webs in the terrestrial biotic communities. In conclusion, this review paper suggested that the different hypotheses developed by various scholars of the community ecology have to be considered in an integrated fashion in order to clearly understand and explain the plausible mechanisms that influence the community structure and trophic level interactions in the terrestrial ecosystems.

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Predation as a Major Cost of Reproduction in Namib Desert Tenebrionid Beetles

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

Description and ecology of a new species of sun spider (Arachnida: Solifugae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

Description and ecology of a new species of sun spider (Arachnida: Solifugae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

Environmental correlates of darkling beetle population size (Col. Tenebrionidae) on the Cañadas of Teide in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Community Structure and Trophic Level Interactions in the Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Review

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