The vertical distribution of small flying insects in the lowland rain forest of Zaïre

Sutton, S. L.; Hudson, Peter J.

doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1980.tb01921.x

Cited by 59 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…These results are in agreement with the study of Sutton & Hudson (1980) in Zayre, who showed that the density activity of airborne insects collected with sticky and light traps at two sites was higher in the upper canopy than in the understorey. Similar results were obtained with similar traps in Brunei, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Sulawesi (review in Sutton, 1989), Sarawak (Kato et al, 1995) and Kalimantan (Koike et al, 1998).…”

Section: T H E Abundance and Activity Of Arthropods In The Understoresupporting

confidence: 94%

Stratification and diel activity of arthropods in a lowland rainforest in Gabon

Basset

Aberlenc

Barrios

et al. 2001

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

104

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The abundance, activity and species richness of arthropods, particularly of insect herbivores, were investigated in the upper canopy and understorey of a lowland rainforest at La Makande, Gabon. In total 14 161 arthropods were collected with beating, flight interception and sticky traps, from six canopy sites, during the day and at night, from midJanuary to mid-March 1999. The effects of stratum were most important, representing between 40 and 70% of the explained variance in arthropod distribution. Site effects represented between 20 and 40% of the variance and emphasized the need for replication of sampling among canopy sites. Time effects (diel activity) explained a much lower percentage of variance (6-9%). The density and abundance of many arthropod taxa and species were significantly higher in the upper canopy than in the understorey. Arthropod activity was also higher during the day than at night. In particular, insect herbivores were 2.5 times more abundant and twice as speciose in the upper canopy than in the understorey, a probable response to the greater and more diverse food resources in the former stratum. Faunal overlap between the upper canopy and understorey was low. The most dissimilar herbivore communities foraged in the understorey at night and the upper canopy during the day. Further, a taxonomic study of a species-rich genus of herbivore collected there (Agdus, Coleoptera Buprestidae) confirmed that the fauna of the upper canopy was different, diverse and very poorly known in comparison to that of the understorey. Herbivore turnover between day and night was rather high in the upper canopy and no strong influx of insect herbivores from lower foliage to the upper canopy was detected at night. This suggests that insect herbivores of the upper canopy may be resident and well adapted to environmental conditions there.

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Section: T H E Abundance and Activity Of Arthropods In The Understoresupporting

confidence: 94%

Stratification and diel activity of arthropods in a lowland rainforest in Gabon

Basset

Aberlenc

Barrios

et al. 2001

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

104

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show abstract

“…For the latter two groups similar results were obtained in a temperate oak forest (Gaspard et al 1967) but also in a lowland rain forest (Sutton & Hudson 1980). The more open environment in the upper regions of a forest seems to be preferred by both groups.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Arthropods Within the Investigated Osupporting

confidence: 72%

Arthropods in tropical oaks: differences in their spatial distributions within tree crowns

Simon

Linsenmair

2001

Tropical Forest Canopies: Ecology and Management

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The arthropod activity in the upper and the lower zone of nine emergent oak trees (genus Quercus) of a submontane forest in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, was investigated by using flight interception traps, yellow colour traps, and arboreal pitfall traps. Number of arthropods did not differ significantly between the upper and the lower region of the tree crowns. Nevertheless, the results reveal significant differences in the abundances of several arthropod groups between the two zones. In the lower part of the oak crowns Homoptera and ants (mostly alates) were sampled in higher numbers, whereas the upper zone was dominated by Diptera and Hymenoptera (ants excluded). Beetles and most other groups showed no significant differences in abundance between the lower and upper zone of the oak trees. Thus, the arthropods of the investigated community are not evenly distributed. The arthropod community in tree crowns, which often has been treated as a homogenous unit, is in fact divided into subunits formed by differently composed arthropod assemblages.

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“…There is some circumstantial evidence that pressure from aerial predators on certain insects, in particular large flying species like butterflies, may influence the structure of some canopy assemblages (Schulze et al, 2001;De Dijn, 2003;Koike & Nagamitsu, 2003). Conversely, in the rainforests of Africa, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and Borneo, small flying insects (that are potentially safer from hawking birds) were concentrated in the upper canopy (Sutton & Hudson, 1980;Sutton, Ash & Grundy, 1983). These explanations are largely speculative though, and delimiting the causal factors driving vertical stratification in these systems still requires vigorous hypothesis testing.…”

Section: (1) Vertical Stratificationmentioning

confidence: 89%

The spatial and temporal distributions of arthropods in forest canopies: uniting disparate patterns with hypotheses for specialisation

Wardhaugh

2014

Biological Reviews

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Arguably the majority of species on Earth utilise tropical rainforest canopies, and much progress has been made in describing arboreal assemblages, especially for arthropods. The most commonly described patterns for tropical rainforest insect communities are host specificity, spatial specialisation (predominantly vertical stratification), and temporal changes in abundance (seasonality and circadian rhythms). Here I review the recurrent results with respect to each of these patterns and discuss the evolutionary selective forces that have generated them in an attempt to unite these patterns in a holistic evolutionary framework. I propose that species can be quantified along a generalist-specialist scale not only with respect to host specificity, but also other spatial and temporal distribution patterns, where specialisation is a function of the extent of activity across space and time for particular species. When all of these distribution patterns are viewed through the paradigm of specialisation, hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the evolution of host specificity can also be applied to explain the generation and maintenance of other spatial and temporal distribution patterns. The main driver for most spatial and temporal distribution patterns is resource availability. Generally, the distribution of insects follows that of the resources they exploit, which are spatially stratified and vary temporally in availability. Physiological adaptations are primarily important for host specificity, where nutritional and chemical variation among host plants in particular, but also certain prey species and fungi, influence host range. Physiological tolerances of abiotic conditions are also important for explaining the spatial and temporal distributions of some insect species, especially in drier forest environments where desiccation is an ever-present threat. However, it is likely that for most species in moist tropical rainforests, abiotic conditions are valuable indicators of resource availability, rather than physiologically limiting factors. Overall, each distribution pattern is influenced by the same evolutionary forces, but at differing intensities. Consequently, each pattern is linked and not mutually exclusive of the other distribution patterns. Most studies have examined each of these patterns in isolation. Future work should focus on examining the evolutionary drivers of these patterns in concert. Only then can the relative strength of resource availability and distribution, host defensive phenotypes, and biotic and abiotic interactions on insect distribution patterns be determined.

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The vertical distribution of small flying insects in the lowland rain forest of Zaïre

Cited by 59 publications

References 7 publications

Stratification and diel activity of arthropods in a lowland rainforest in Gabon

Stratification and diel activity of arthropods in a lowland rainforest in Gabon

Arthropods in tropical oaks: differences in their spatial distributions within tree crowns

The spatial and temporal distributions of arthropods in forest canopies: uniting disparate patterns with hypotheses for specialisation

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