Microclimate niche requirements of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) in a successional gradient of low thorn forest in northeastern Mexico

Leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) constitute a family of abundant, diverse, and ecologically important herbivorous insects, due to their high specificity with host plants, a close association with vegetation and a great sensitivity to microclimatic variation (factors that are modified gradually during the rainy and dry seasons). Therefore, the effects of seasonality (rainy and dry seasons) and microclimate on the community attributes of chrysomelids were evaluated in a semideciduous tropical forest fragment of northeastern Mexico. Monthly sampling was conducted, between March 2016 and February 2017, with an entomological sweep net in 18 plots of 20 × 20 m, randomly distributed from 320 to 480 m a.s.l. Seven microclimatic variables were simultaneously recorded during each of the samplings, using a portable weather station. In total, 216 samples were collected at the end of the study, of which 2,103 specimens, six subfamilies, 46 genera, and 71 species were obtained. The subfamily Galerucinae had the highest number of specimens and species in the study area, followed by Cassidinae. Seasonality caused significant changes in the abundance and number of leaf beetle species: highest richness was recorded in the rainy season, with 60 species, while the highest diversity (lowest dominance and highest H’ index) was obtained in the dry season. Seasonal inventory completeness of leaf beetles approached (rainy season) or was higher (dry season) than 70%, while the faunistic similarity between seasons was 0.63%. The outlying mean index was significant in both seasons; of the seven microclimatic variables analyzed, only temperature, heat index, evapotranspiration and wind speed were significantly related to changes in abundance of Chrysomelidae. Association between microclimate and leaf beetles was higher in the dry season, with a difference in the value of importance of the abiotic variables. The results indicated that each species exhibited a different response pattern to the microclimate, depending on the season, which suggests that the species may exhibit modifications in their niche requirements according to abiotic conditions. However, the investigations must be replicated in other regions, in order to obtain a better characterization of the seasonal and microclimatic influence on the family Chrysomelidae.

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Successional and seasonal changes of leaf beetles and their indicator value in a fragmented low thorn forest of northeastern Mexico (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

ZooKeys ◽

10.3897/zookeys.825.30455 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 825 ◽

pp. 71-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Uriel Jeshua Sánchez-Reyes ◽

Santiago Niño-Maldonado ◽

Shawn M. Clark ◽

Ludivina Barrientos-Lozano ◽

Pedro Almaguer-Sierra

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Changes ◽

Secondary Succession ◽

Environmental Heterogeneity ◽

Close Association ◽

Leaf Beetle ◽

Community Patterns ◽

Leaf Beetles ◽

Indicator Value ◽

Northeastern Mexico ◽

Vegetal Cover

Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) constitute a highly diverse family of phytophagous insects with high ecological relevance, due to their host plant specificity and their close association to vegetation variables. Therefore, secondary succession and seasonal changes after loss of vegetal cover will have a significant influence on their community patterns. Accordingly, responses of leaf beetles to such environmental heterogeneity make them a suitable taxon for monitoring disturbance, which is more important for endangered habitats such as the low thorn forests (LTF) in northeastern Mexico. We conducted a study in a LTF fragment in order to assess the effects of secondary succession and seasonality on leaf beetle communities, as well as to quantify the importance of Chrysomelidae as an indicator taxon. Landsat scenes were used for delimiting a successional gradient, in which four succession categories were selected: four years, 17 years, and 31 years since loss of vegetal cover, and conserved areas. Eight plots of 100 m2were randomly delimited in each category; plots were sampled monthly, using an entomological sweep net, from May 2016 to April 2017. In total, 384 samples were collected by the end of study, from which 6978 specimens, six subfamilies, 57 genera, and 85 species were obtained. Species richness was higher in early succession areas. Abundance declined significantly from early successional to conserved areas, but the conserved areas had the higher diversity. Furthermore, differences in abundance were significant between rainy and dry seasons in areas of four, 17, and 31 years of succession, but not in conserved areas; also, all categories had a similar abundance during the dry season. Intermediate (17 and 31 years) and conserved areas differed in the season of higher diversity. Regarding inventory completeness, it was close to or above 70 % for all comparisons, although it was very low for the 17-year category during the rainy season. Faunistic similarity was higher between intermediate categories. A total of 24 species had a significant indicator value. Effects of succession time and seasonality on leaf beetle communities are here quantified for first time in LTF forests. Influences of environmental heterogeneity and intermediate disturbance are discussed as main drivers of the results obtained. Several leaf beetle species are proposed that could be useful for monitoring succession time and secondary LTF vegetation in northeastern Mexico. However, studies must be replicated at other regions, in order to obtain a better characterization of disturbance influence on leaf beetles.

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Continuities in Architectural Traditions: The Subterráneos of Prehistoric and Modern Northern Mexico

North American Archaeologist ◽

10.2190/nxrg-frv0-7h3e-pxrh ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 105-120

Author(s):

Solveig A. Turpin ◽

Herbert H. Eling ◽

Moisés Valadez Moreno

Keyword(s):

New World ◽

Site Occupancy ◽

Northern Mexico ◽

Conventional View ◽

Northeastern Mexico ◽

Small Valley

The recent discovery of a pit house village, 40 km northwest of Monterrey, challenges the conventional view of inland northeastern Mexico as the domain of purely nomadic hunters and gatherers throughout prehistory. Las Casitas consists of fifty-three subterranean rooms and forty-eight smaller depressions aligned in three slightly arcuate tiers in a small valley adjacent to Boca de Potrerillos, an extremely large open campsite and petroglyph complex that is now an archeological park. Other features of the site are some 325 hearths that surround the depressions and a very limited artifact assemblage numbering only thirty-seven items. Two hearths produced radiocarbon samples that date site occupancy to approximately a.d. 1450, just prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the New World. Las Casitas provides the first evidence of semi-sedentary, surplus producing populations in central northeastern Mexico.

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