Frugivorous weevils are too rare to cause Janzen–Connell effects in New Guinea lowland rain forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Ctvrtecka ◽  
Katerina Sam ◽  
Erik Brus ◽  
George D. Weiblen ◽  
Vojtech Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Single Plant ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Weevil Species ◽  
Low Incidence ◽  
Specialist Species

Abstract:A community of frugivorous weevils was studied by quantitative rearing of 57 weevil species represented by 10485 individuals from 326 woody plant species in lowland rain forest in Papua New Guinea. Only fruits from 35% of plant species were attacked by weevils. On average, weevils were reared from only 1 in 33 fruits and 1 kg of fruit was attacked by 2.51 individuals. Weevil host specificity was relatively high: 42% of weevil species fed on a single plant genus, 19% on a single plant family and only 16% were reared from more than one family. However, monophagous specialists represented only 23% of all reared individuals. The average 1 kg of fruits was infested by 1.84 individuals of generalist weevils (feeding on allogeneric or allofamilial host species), 0.52 individual of specialists (feeding on a single or several congeneric species), and 0.15 individual of unknown host specificity. Large-seeded fruits with thin mesocarp tended to host specialist species whereas those with thick, fleshy mesocarp were often infested with both specialists and generalists. Weevils tended to avoid small-seeded, fleshy fruits. The low incidence of seed damage (3% of seeds) suggests that weevils are unlikely to play a major role in regulating plant populations via density-dependent mortality processes outlined by the Janzen–Connell hypothesis.

Low host specificity in species-rich assemblages of xylem- and phloem-feeding herbivores (Auchenorrhyncha) in a New Guinea lowland rain forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca F. Dem ◽  
Alan J.A. Stewart ◽  
Amos Gibson ◽  
George D. Weiblen ◽  
Vojtech Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Phylogenetic Distance ◽  
Phloem Feeding

Abstract:We documented one of the most species-rich assemblages of tropical rain-forest Auchenorrhyncha, comprising 402 phloem- and xylem-feeding species, by sampling adults from forest vegetation. Further, we reared 106 species from larvae sampled on 14 plant species. Both xylem- and phloem-feeding guilds exhibited wide host-plant ranges, as 74% of species fed on more than one plant family. In comparison, using data extracted from the temperate-zone literature, phloem-feeders exhibited lower host specificity in Papua New Guinea than in Germany, because in Papua New Guinea they were dominated by generalist Fulgoroidea while in Germany by specialist Membracoidea. The similarity of Auchenorrhyncha assemblages from different plant species was unrelated to the phylogenetic distance between their hosts. Host specificity, abundance and species composition of Auchenorrhyncha assemblages were unrelated to the optimum of their host plant species on succession gradient from secondary to primary forest. Higher host specificity did not lead to greater species richness in Auchenorrhyncha assemblages feeding on different plant species, but the number of species feeding on a particular plant species was a strong predictor of the Auchenorrhyncha abundance on that plant. These patterns suggest that Auchenorrhyncha assemblages on these plant species are not saturated with species and determined by division of limited resources among competitors, but instead are dependent on the number of colonizers from the regional species pool.

Yams and megapode mounds in the lowland rain forest of Papua New Guinea

Human Ecology ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Dwyer ◽  
Monica Minnegal
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

scholarly journals Host specialization and species richness of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a New Guinea rain forest

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Novotny ◽  
Anthony R. Clarke ◽  
Richard A. I. Drew ◽  
Solomon Balagawi ◽  
Barbara Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Fruit Flies ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
Area 5 ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Single Genus

Frugivorous dacine fruit flies were studied in a lowland tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea to determine their host specificity, abundance, and the number of species attacking various plant species. Plant species hosted 0–3 fruit fly species at median (1–3 quartile) densities of 1 (0–17) fruit flies per 100 fruits. Fruit flies were mostly specialized to a single plant family (83% species) and within each family to a single genus (88% species), while most of the species (66%) were able to feed on >1 congeneric plant species. Only 30 from the 53 studied plant species were colonized by fruit flies. The plant–fruit fly food web, including these 30 plant species and the total of 29 fruit fly species feeding on them, was divided into 14 compartments, each including 1–8 plant species hosting mutually disjunct assemblages of fruit flies. This structure minimizes indirect interactions among plant species via shared herbivores. The local species pool was estimated at 152±32 (±SE) fruit fly species. Forty per cent of all taxonomically described species known from Papua New Guinea were reared or trapped in our study area. Such a high proportion indicates low beta-diversity of fruit flies. Steiner traps were highly efficient in sampling the lure-responsive fruit fly species as they re-collected 84% of all species trapped in the same area 5 y before. Fruit fly monitoring by these traps is a cheap, simple and efficient method for the study of spatial and temporal changes in rain-forest communities.

scholarly journals Spatial patterns of tree species distribution in New Guinea primary and secondary lowland rain forest

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Fibich ◽  
Jan Lepš ◽  
Vojtěch Novotný ◽  
Petr Klimeš ◽  
Jakub Těšitel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

Ant-tended scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccidae: Myzolecanium) within lowland rain forest trees in Papua New Guinea

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny J. Gullan ◽  
Ralf C. Buckley ◽  
Philip S. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Scale Insects ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Plant Associations ◽  
Host Trees

ABSTRACTEight species of Myzolecanium Beccari (Hemiptera: Homoptera: Coccoidea: Coccidae) are reported from ant nests in stem cavities of living lowland rain forest trees in Papua New Guinea. The coccids are confined to this microhabitat but are associated with a taxonomically broad range of ants and host trees. Attendant ants belonged to six species in three genera and two subfamilies: Anonychomyrma Donisthorpe (Dolichoderinae), Crematogaster Lund (Myrmicinae) and Podomyrma F. Smith (Myrmicinae). Host plants belonged to at least five families and included both apparently specialized (with domatia) and unspecialized species. Saplings containing the nests of Anonychomyrma scrutator (F. Smith), Anonychomyrma sp. 1 and Podomyrma laevifrons F. Smith were dissected and the structure of nest chambers and their contents recorded. Only some chambers had entrance holes, but many were interconnected by transverse passages. The coccids were in low numbers and fairly evenly distributed between ant-occupied chambers. The characteristics of the Myzolecanium-ant association, the role of the coccids as trophobionts, and the nature of the plant associations are discussed. Taxonomically, new combinations are proposed by P. J. Gullan for three species previously placed in Cryptostigma Ferris: Myzolecanium endoeucalyptus (Qin & Gullan), M. magnetinsulae (Qin & Gullan), and M. robertsi (Williams & Watson).

Comparing composition and diversity of parasitoid wasps and plants in an Amazonian rain-forest mosaic

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilari E. Sääksjärvi ◽  
Kalle Ruokolainen ◽  
Hanna Tuomisto ◽  
Samuli Haataja ◽  
Paul V. A. Fine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Wasp Species ◽  
Weak Support ◽  
Forest Mosaic

Local species richness and between-site similarity in species composition of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae; Pimplinae and Rhyssinae) were correlated with those of four plant groups (pteridophytes, Melastomataceae, Burseraceae and Arecaceae) in a western Amazonian lowland rain forest mosaic. The mosaic structure of the forest was related to variation in soils within the non-inundated terrain. Significant matrix correlation between patterns in parasitoid wasp species composition and plant species composition was found. Most of the overall correlation was due to idiobiont parasitoids of weakly concealed hosts, which attack host larvae and pupae in exposed situations, with two of the four ecologically defined parasitoid groups showing no correlation at all. A positive correlation between the number of plant species and the number of Pimplinae and Rhyssinae species at a site was found when the latter was corrected for collecting effort. Consequently, the degree of floristic difference between sites may be indicative of the difference in species composition of ichneumonids, and the species richness of plants may serve as a predictor of the species richness of parasitoid wasps. Although these results were obtained in a mosaic including structurally and floristically clearly different types of rain forest, the correlation coefficients were relatively low, and the present results lend only weak support to the idea of using plant distributions as indicators of animal distributions.

Body size and host plant specialization: a relationship from a community of herbivorous insects on Ficus from Papua New Guinea

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Novotny ◽  
Yves Basset
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Body ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Feeding Mode ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Host Plant Specialization

The relationships between body size and host specificity were studied in leaf-chewing and sap-sucking insect communities, including 792 species, feeding locally on 15 species of Ficus in a lowland rain forest in Papua New Guinea. A negative correlation between body size and host specificity, i.e., the tendency for large species to feed on numerous Ficus hosts and those smaller to have a more restricted host range, was found within both the sap-sucking and the leaf-chewing community. A more detailed analysis, which divided herbivorous species into three sap-sucking and four leaf-chewing guilds, revealed that the correlation between body size and host specificity was caused by differences in these traits between the guilds, while no such correlation was detected within any of the guilds. As the changes in feeding mode, defining various guilds, were unique evolutionary events, it is uncertain whether there is a functional relationship between feeding mode, body size and host specificity, or whether their correlation is only coincidental. It is suggested that, in the sap-sucking community at least, the positive body size versus host specificity correlation is a coincidental by-product of the causal relationship between the feeding mode and both the body size and host specificity. The causes of analogous patterns in a leaf-chewing community require further investigation. Methodological problems in the analysis of tropical insect communities, dominated by rare species, are discussed.

scholarly journals Impact of logging on aboveground biomass stocks in lowland rain forest, Papua New Guinea

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2096-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Bryan ◽  
Phil Shearman ◽  
Julian Ash ◽  
J. B. Kirkpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

The Sepik River (Papua New Guinea) is not a dispersal barrier for lowland rain-forest frogs

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Dahl ◽  
Stephen J. Richards ◽  
Vojtech Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
River System ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forests ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Sepik River ◽  
Dispersal Barriers ◽  
Animal Communities

Abstract:Major tropical rivers have been suggested to be important dispersal barriers that increase the beta diversity of animal communities in lowland rain forests. We tested this hypothesis using assemblages of frogs in the floodplains of the Sepik River, a major river system in Papua New Guinea. We surveyed frogs at five sites within a continuous 150 × 500-km area of lowland rain forest bisected by the Sepik, using standardized visual and auditory survey techniques. We documented 769 frogs from 44 species. The similarity in species composition decreased with logarithm of geographical distance between the sites, which ranged from 82 to 465 km. The similarity decay did not depend on whether or not the compared sites were separated by the Sepik River or whether the species were aquatic or terrestrial breeders. Likewise, a DCA ordination of frog assemblages did not show separation of sites by the river as a significant factor explaining their composition. Our results suggest that even major rivers, such as the Sepik, may not act as dispersal barriers. Rivers may not limit the distribution of frogs and therefore have a limited effect on determining frog species abundance and assemblage structure in rain forests.

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