Thermal Adaptation and Diversity in Tropical Ecosystems: Evidence from Cicadas (Hemiptera, Cicadidae)

Abstract

The latitudinal gradient in species diversity is a central problem in ecology. Expeditions covering approximately 16°54′ of longitude and 21°4′ of latitude and eight Argentine phytogeographic regions provided thermal adaptation data for 64 species of cicadas. We test whether species diversity relates to the diversity of thermal environments within a habitat. There are general patterns of the thermal response values decreasing in cooler floristic provinces and decreasing maximum potential temperature within a habitat except in tropical forest ecosystems. Vertical stratification of the plant communities leads to stratification in species using specific layers of the habitat. There is a decrease in thermal tolerances in species from the understory communities in comparison to middle level or canopy fauna. The understory Herrera umbraphila Sanborn & Heath is the first diurnally active cicada identified as a thermoconforming species. The body temperature for activity in H. umbraphila is less than and significantly different from active body temperatures of all other studied species regardless of habitat affiliation. These data suggest that variability in thermal niches within the heterogeneous plant community of the tropical forest environments permits species diversification as species adapt their physiology to function more efficiently at temperatures different from their potential competitors.

Facing the heat: thermoregulation and behaviour of lowland species of a cold-dwelling butterfly genus,Erebia

“…2). We hypothesize that this differentiation of thermoregulatory strategies was driven by contrasting habitat preferences of these two species, similarly as has been observed for Mediterranean cicadas [46,47], tropical lizards [21] or mountain species of the genus Erebia [14]. We also found differences between low-altitude and alpine populations of E. euryale, which probably reflect local adaptations to different climates.…”

Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico

“…For example, in a single park in Brazil, the species was found to use 17 different families as host plants [136]. In Argentina we found Q. gigas in the tropical cloud forests of the Yunga and tropical rainforests of the Paranense floristic provinces as well as the temperate Chaco and Espinal floristic provinces [22]. The species disappears in Argentina when potential host trees disappear from the floristic provinces.…”

“…The genus is primarily found in North America, north of Mexico but two of the three species have been reported from Mexico [6,8]. The genus represents the northernmost limit of the genera within the tribe Fidicinini that extends southward through Central and South America to Argentina [4,5,[7][8][9][13][14][15]17,20,22,131,132].…”

“…It has been collected from central Texas (Figure 26) to central Argentina [22,26,129,135]. It appears to have a generalist approach to host plants that facilitates its use of multiple plant communities [22]. For example, in a single park in Brazil, the species was found to use 17 different families as host plants [136].…”

Ecology, Acoustic Behavior, and Morphology of the Cicada Cornuplura nigroalbata (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae)

“…The species tended to call primarily from Emory oak (Quercus emoryi Torrey) and Mexican blue oak (Quercus oblongifolia Torrey) and to a lesser extent velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina Wooton) but tended to call from ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens Engelmann) early in the morning. The cicadas would ßy to the ocotillo in the morning and commence calling (cicadas can ßy at body temperatures well below the body temperature required for calling, for example, see Sanborn et al 2002Sanborn et al , 2011. Calling from ocotillo would provide the species access to greater amounts of solar radiation enabling the animals to elevate body temperature to a range necessary for calling more rapidly than if perching in the shaded environment within the oaks or mesquite and thus increasing its activity period.…”