The contribution of epiphytes to the abundance and species richness of canopy insects in a Mexican coffee plantation

Abstract

Abstract:The abundance of epiphytes has been assumed to be important in explaining the high diversity of tropical canopy arthropods. In this study we assessed the possible role that the presence of epiphytes may have on the diversity and abundance of canopy insects in an experimental study conducted in a coffee plantation in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico. Epiphytes were removed from trees in one of two plots in two sites of the coffee plantation. In each plot we collected insects from three Inga jinicuil trees by knockdown insecticide fogging. Insects were sorted to morphospecies, counted and measured. Trees with epiphytes had significantly higher numbers of species and individuals and insects larger than 5 mm were also more species-rich and abundant in trees with epiphytes. The magnitude of the enhancement was surprisingly large with the epiphyte plot samples having on average 90% more individuals and 22% more species than plots without epiphytes. These differences were even greater for large (>5 mm) insects (184% and 113% respectively). Our results support the tenet that epiphytes provide valuable resources to arthropods, which we have illustrated for canopy insects in shade trees of coffee plantations.

Islands in the trees: A biogeographic exploration of epiphyte‐dwelling spiders

“…The study area is located in southeast Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The site is a 40‐year‐old shade‐coffee plantation called “La Orduña” (19°28′02″N, 96°55′45″W), a well‐known site for the study of species diversity (Cruz‐Angón et al., ; Manson, Hernández‐Ortiz, Gallina, & Mehltreter, ). We selected three trees of the dominant species Inga jinicuil G. Don (Mimosaceae), which harbours the greatest diversity of epiphytes (more than 40 species; Cruz‐Angón et al., ).…”

A review and evaluation of forest canopy epiphyte roles in the partitioning and chemical alteration of precipitation

“…To what extent, and at what rates, are compounds generated from epiphyte microbial communities or leached from the epiphyte itself, re-assimilated by within-canopy ecosystems (especially after prolonged dry periods like those studied by Coxson (1991) and Coxson et al (1992))? In our efforts to better understand the final chemical composition of net precipitation fluxes to soils, we should not neglect the important within-canopy biogeochemical functions reliant on throughfall and stemflow en route to the surface that support the biodiversity of microbe, plant, vertebrate and invertebrate communities across scales, from the individual epiphyte (Carrias et al, 2012), to the single tree canopy (Nieder et al, 2001;Cruz-Agnón et al, 2009), and even the forest canopy scale (CruzAgnón and Greenberg, 2005).…”

Biological flora of New Zealand 12:Griselinia lucida, puka, akapuka, akakōpuka, shining broadleaf

“…G. lucida and its associated epiphytic communities provide habitat, nectar, water, fruits and nesting materials for invertebrates and birds (Nadkarni 1989;Benzing 1990;Gentry 1991;Nadkarni 1992;Affeld 2008;Cruz-Ango´n et al 2009). Affeld (2008) found 397 invertebrate species in a survey of 120 epiphytic assemblages in forests of the west coast of the South Island, while O'Donnell & Dilks (1994) found that up to 9% of observed feeding by birds in south Westland was on epiphytes.…”