The phytotelmata and foliage macrofauna assemblages of a bromeliad species in different habitats and seasons

Abstract

1. The macrofauna living inside the phytotelmata or on the foliage of bromeliads could be directly affected by habitat and seasonality. Habitat may also have indirect effects by affecting plant morphology.2. In Chaco forests, a facultative epiphytic bromeliad (Aechmea distichantha) shows different morphology when growing in sun and shade conditions. Therefore, the abundance and assemblage composition of the macrofauna living on this bromeliad were analysed in different habitats and seasons.3. Sun plants were shorter, had higher tank water content, but lower litter mass than shade ones. Phytotelmata water temperature and pH were similar between habitats.4. In the phytotelmata, the macrofauna abundance and richness per plant, as well as total richness, were similar between habitats and among seasons. Detritivores were more abundant than predators in all habitats and seasons. Shade plants had a higher proportion of detritivores than sun plants in spring and summer, but not in winter.5. On the bromeliad foliage, the macrofauna abundance and richness per plant were lower in winter. There were no differences in abundance between habitats, but shade plants had higher species richness than sun plants. In spring and summer, total richness was higher in shade plants than in sun plants. In spring and summer, detritivores were more abundant for shade, whereas ants were more abundant in sun plants. The proportion of hunting spiders was higher in the shade in spring and summer.6. Our study showed that habitat mainly affects bromeliad-foliage macrofauna, but not the phytotelmata macrofauna.

Terrestrial bromeliads as seed accumulation microsites in a xerophytic forest of Southern Chaco, Argentina

“…Smith) as sites where dispersing the seeds of the shrub Erythroxylum ovalifolium Peyr (Fialho 1990). In our forests, even though there are frogs living inside bromeliads (Montero et al 2010), it is not known whether these animals selectively disperse seeds of woody species onto bromeliads. Tank bromeliads are more likely to attrack animals than nontank bromeliads due to their ability to hold water (Fialho 1990, Benzing 2000, however to our knowledge there is no information about this topic.…”

“…Aechmea distichantha occurs as a terrestrial or epiphytic plant in deciduous, semideciduous and evergreen forests from sea level to 2400 m of altitude in southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina (Smith and Downs 1979). It is a tank-forming bromeliad (type III sensu Benzing 2000), with leaves arranged in a very dense rossette that accumulates water in the tank (Cavallero et al 2009), where many arthropod species grow (Montero et al 2010). Blades are pungent with armed borders and the sheaths have entire borders (Smith and Downs 1979).…”

“…Moreover, as tank bromeliads (i.e. A. distichantha) hold water inside their tanks (Cavallero et al 2009), where a diverse arthropofauna develops (Montero et al 2010), they are supposed to affect water and nutrient dynamics. Therefore, these authors recommend eliminating these bromeliad populations (Martínez Crovetto 1980, Wenzel andHampel 1998) to facilitate woody regeneration and cattle management without taking into account the importance of these bromeliad species for the biodiversity and functioning of the ecosystem.…”

Aquatic invertebrates associated with bromeliads in Atlantic Forest fragments

“…Some invertebrates, such as oligochaetes and ostracods, spend their entire lives inside the cisterns of bromeliads (Montero et al 2010, Pinto & Jocqué 2013, while others are only found in such habitats in immature forms, mainly beetles and flies (Mestre et al 2001). These organisms play an important role (Sodré et al 2010), by helping to degrade the organic matter falling from the forest canopy, accelerating the release of nutrients to the bromeliad (Benzing 1990, Richardson 1999, Armbruster et al 2002, Araújo et al 2007, Brouard et al 2012.…”

Plant structure predicts leaf litter capture in the tropical montane bromeliad Tillandsia turneri

“…1843 (Richardson et al, 2000), and the proportion of hunting spiders increases with greater litter depth in individuals of Aechmea distichantha Lem. 1853 (Montero et al, 2010). Additionally, bromeliads obtain nutrients from litter intercepted by rosettes, which are absorbed through specialized trichomes (Benzing and Renfrow, 1974;Benzing, 2000) and are important for reproduction, fitness, and growth (Benzing, 1990;Lasso and Ackerman, 2013).…”