Cruising the rain forest floor: butterfly wing shape evolution and gliding in ground effect

Adults of Geoparnus rhinoceros sp. nov. (Dryopidae) are described from Borneo (Sarawak, Malaysia). The male of the new species possesses a distinct horn-like process on the clypeus, a character, which has so far not been reported from Dryopidae. The type material was collected in primary rain forest by sifting forest floor debris. Analysis of variance of metric characters was performed.

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Butterfly wing colour patterns and flying heights in the seasonally wet forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467400008270 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 601-610 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Martin Burd

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Barro Colorado Island ◽

Butterfly Wing ◽

Lowland Tropical Forest ◽

General Lack ◽

Wing Colour ◽

Colour Patterns

ABSTRACTI investigated the extent to which adult butterflies with different wing colours display preferences for flying heights within a lowland tropical forest. Observations on eight colour groups, some of which comprised putative aposematic models and mimics while others contained nonaposematic species, were made from the forest floor and from a scaffold tower that reached above the canopy. Two groups (yellow pierids and papilionids and orange heliconiines) were most frequently observed in or above the canopy, and other groups were most frequently observed in or below the canopy. The evidence suggests that significant differences exist between some groups, but stratification does not occur among all colour groups. In particular, flight distributions of some mimicry rings overlap considerably. The light environments of different forest layers are variable, and the role that butterfly wing colours play in signalling or avoiding prcdation is little understood. However, the general lack of fine stratification of colour groups suggests that flight preferences do not occur because wing colours and patterns are especially cryptic against the background of particular forest layers.

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A Continuous Varying Impedance Passband Microstrip Filter Exploiting a Butterfly Wing Shape

Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications ◽

10.1163/156939305775525972 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 19 (9) ◽

pp. 1145-1156 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

L. Alfano ◽

A. D'Orazio ◽

M. De Sario ◽

V. Petruzzelli ◽

F. Prudenzano

Keyword(s):

Wing Shape ◽

Butterfly Wing ◽

Microstrip Filter

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Microclimatic and ecophysiological conditions experienced by epiphytic bryophytes in an Amazonian rain forest

10.5194/bg-2018-521 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nina Löbs ◽

David Walter ◽

Cybelli G. G. Barbosa ◽

Sebastian Brill ◽

Gabriela R. Cerqueira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Dark Respiration ◽

Physiological Activity ◽

Dry Season ◽

Photon Flux ◽

Monthly Average ◽

Light Intensities ◽

Amazonian Rain Forest ◽

Water Contents

Abstract. In the Amazonian rain forest, major parts of trees and shrubs are covered by epiphytic cryptogams of great taxonomic variety, but their relevance in biosphere-atmosphere exchange, climate processes, and nutrient cycling are largely unknown. As cryptogams are poikilohydric organisms, they are physiologically active only under moist conditions. Thus, information on their water content, as well as temperature and light conditions experienced by them are essential to analyzing their impact on local, regional, and even global biogeochemical processes. In this study, we present data on the microclimatic and ecophysiological conditions of epiphytic bryo-phytes along a vertical gradient and combine these with mesoclimate data collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in the Amazonian rain forest between October 2014 and December 2016. While the monthly average mesoclimatic ambient light intensities above the canopy revealed only minor variations, the light intensities incident on the bryophytes showed different patterns at different heights, probably depending on individual shading by vegetation. At 1.5 m height, monthly average light intensities were similar throughout the year and individual values were extremely low, exceeding 5 µmol m−2 s−1 pho-tosynthetic photon flux density only during 8 % of the time. Temperatures showed only minor variations throughout the year with higher values and larger height-dependent differences during the dry season. Water contents of bryophytes varied depending on precipitation and air humidity. Whereas bryophytes at higher levels were affected by frequent wetting and drying events, those close to the forest floor remained wet over longer time spans during the wet seasons. Based on estimates of the potential duration of net pho-tosynthesis and dark respiration, our data suggest that water contents are decisive for overall physiological activity, and light intensities determine whether net photosynthesis or dark respiration occurs, whereas temperature variations are only of minor relevance in this environment. In general, bryophytes growing close to the forest floor are limited by light availability, while those growing in the canopy must withstand larger variations in microclimatic conditions, especially in the dry season. Measurements of CO2 gas ex-change are essential to elucidate their physiological activity patterns in greater detail.

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The Canopy Starts at 0.5 m: Predatory Mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) Differ between Rain Forest Floor Soil and Suspended Soil at any Height

Biotropica ◽

10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00638.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 704-709 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Frédéric Beaulieu ◽

David E. Walter ◽

Heather C. Proctor ◽

Roger L. Kitching

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Predatory Mites ◽

Forest Floor Soil

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Seed scatterhoarding by white-tailed rats: consequences for seedling recruitment by an Australian rain forest tree

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467401001122 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 177-189 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

TAD C. THEIMER

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Seedling Recruitment ◽

Forest Tree ◽

Tropical Rain Forests ◽

Rain Forests ◽

Seedling Dynamics ◽

Avian Frugivore ◽

Casuarius Casuarius

The role of white-tailed rats (Uromys caudimaculatus) as dispersers of seeds of the Australian tropical rain forest tree Beilschmiedia bancroftii, (Lauraceae) was investigated by following the fates of seeds and seedlings over 2 y. Fruits of this tree are too large to be consumed by any avian frugivore except the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), and the only other native mammal capable of dispersing the seeds is the musky rat kangaroo (Hypsiprimnodon moschatus). However, neither of these species has been documented to disperse the seeds of this tree. During a mast year, white-tailed rats cached seeds an average of 13 m from parent trees in a variety of microsites. Although none of the 61 cached seeds followed in this study survived to germination, comparison of seed, cache and seedling distributions suggested that most seedlings arose from rat-cached seeds. White-tailed rats cached seeds in both mast and non-mast years, but the time seeds remained on the forest floor and in caches was significantly shorter in non-mast years, suggesting that synchronous seed production increases the probability that some caches survive to germination. Because white-tailed rats are the most common and widespread native mammal capable of dispersing large-seeds, this study suggests that they may play an important role in the seed and seedling dynamics of large-seeded tree species in Australian tropical rain forests.

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“Butterfly Wing” Shape Maximal Trans Sternal Thymectomy

Cirugía Española (English Edition) ◽

10.1016/j.cireng.2016.02.015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 94 (3) ◽

pp. 186-188

Author(s):

Francisco J. Vázquez-Roque ◽

María O. Hernández-Oliver ◽

Alina Castillo-Vitlloch ◽

Deysi Rivero-Valerón

Keyword(s):

Wing Shape ◽

Butterfly Wing

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Microclimatic conditions and water content fluctuations experienced by epiphytic bryophytes in an Amazonian rain forest

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-17-5399-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (21) ◽

pp. 5399-5416

Author(s):

Nina Löbs ◽

David Walter ◽

Cybelli G. G. Barbosa ◽

Sebastian Brill ◽

Rodrigo P. Alves ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Rain Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Dry Season ◽

Photon Flux ◽

Light Conditions ◽

Monthly Average ◽

Light Intensities ◽

Amazonian Rain Forest ◽

Microclimatic Conditions

Abstract. In the Amazonian rain forest, major parts of trees and shrubs are covered by epiphytic cryptogams of great taxonomic variety, but their relevance in biosphere–atmosphere exchange, climate processes, and nutrient cycling is largely unknown. As cryptogams are poikilohydric organisms, they are physiologically active only under moist conditions. Thus, information on their water content (WC) as well as temperature and light conditions experienced by them are essential to analyze their impact on local, regional, and even global biogeochemical processes. In this study, we present data on the microclimatic conditions, including water content, temperature, and light conditions experienced by epiphytic bryophytes along a vertical gradient, and combine these with above-canopy climate data collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in the Amazonian rain forest between October 2014 and December 2016. While the monthly average of above-canopy light intensities revealed only minor fluctuations over the course of the year, the light intensities experienced by the bryophytes varied depending on the location within the canopy, probably caused by individual shading by vegetation. In the understory (1.5 m), monthly average light intensities were similar throughout the year, and individual values were extremely low, remaining below 3 µmol m−2 s−1 photosynthetic photon flux density more than 84 % of the time. Temperatures showed only minor variations throughout the year, with higher values and larger height-dependent differences during the dry season. The indirectly assessed water content of bryophytes varied depending on precipitation, air humidity, dew condensation, and bryophyte type. Whereas bryophytes in the canopy were affected by diel fluctuations of the relative humidity and condensation, those close to the forest floor mainly responded to rainfall patterns. In general, bryophytes growing close to the forest floor were limited by light availability, while those growing in the canopy had to withstand larger variations in microclimatic conditions, especially during the dry season. For further research in this field, these data may be combined with CO2 gas exchange measurements to investigate the role of bryophytes in various biosphere–atmosphere exchange processes, and could be a tool to understand the functioning of the epiphytic community in greater detail.

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Adapted to the rain forest floor: a remarkable new dwarf Coffea (Rubiaceae) from Lower Guinea (tropical Africa)

Taxon ◽

10.2307/1224290 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 37-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Piet Stoffelen ◽

Elmar Robbrecht ◽

Erik Smets

Keyword(s):

Rain Forest ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Tropical Africa

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