scholarly journals Ant Assemblage Structure in a Secondary Tropical Dry Forest: The Role of Ecological Succession and Seasonality

Sociobiology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatianne Gizelle Marques ◽  
Mário Marcos Espírito-Santo ◽  
Frederico Siqueira Neves ◽  
José Henrique Schoereder
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Ant Assemblages ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Late Stages

This study identified the main biological mechanisms governing the diversity of ants on different ecological time scales. Ants were sampled in 15 plots distributed in early, intermediate and late stages of succession (five plots per stage) at the Parque Estadual da Mata Seca, Brazil. At each sample point, unbaited pitfall traps were installed in hypogaeic, epigaeic and arboreal strata. We collected 95 ant species from 26 genera and nine subfamilies. Our results indicated that there was an increase in species richness in advanced stages of succession. We also observed that ant assemblages were different among successional stages. For the arboreal and epigaeic strata, species richness did not change with succession progression, but species composition of these two strata differed among successional stages. Unlike to arboreal and epigaeic ants, hypogaiec ant species richness was higher in the intermediate and late stages of succession and the composition of hypogaeic ants differed among successional stages. Similarity between ant species foraging in arboreal and epigaeic strata decreases with succession progression and β-diversity was higher in advanced successional stages. Additionally, species richness was higher in the dry season, whereas the composition of ant assemblages did not change between seasons. A considerable fraction of the ant assemblage was found only in advanced stages of succession, demonstrating the importance of secondary habitats in maintaining biodiversity in dry forests.

scholarly journals Successional and Intraspecific Variations in Leaf Traits, Spectral Reflectance Indices and Herbivory in a Brazilian Tropical Dry Forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alline Mendes Alves ◽  
Mário Marcos do Espírito-Santo ◽  
Jhonathan O. Silva ◽  
Gabriela Faccion ◽  
Gerardo Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Reflectance ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Leaf Reflectance ◽  
Successional Gradient ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Reflectance Indices ◽  
Late Stages ◽  
Spectral Reflectance Indices

Leaf traits are good indicators of ecosystem functioning and can affect herbivory and leaf reflectance patterns, allowing a better understanding of changes in environmental conditions, such those observed during forest natural regeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intraspecific variation in leaf traits and their influence on the pattern of herbivory and leaf reflectance in three species distributed along a successional gradient (early, intermediate and late stages) in a tropical dry forest (TDF) in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. We sampled individuals of the following abundant tree species that occurred in multiple successional stages: Cenostigma pluviosum, Handroanthus ochraceus, and Tabebuia reticulata. We collected 10 leaves from each tree to determine the contents of chlorophyll a, b, and total, carotenoids and water, as well as the percentage of leaf area removed by herbivores and leaf specific mass (LSM). We also measured five spectral reflectance indices (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index-NDVI, Simple Ratio-SR, modified Normalized Difference-nND, modified SR-mSR and Water Index-WI) using a portable spectrometer. Our results showed intraspecific differences in most leaf traits along the successional gradient, suggesting that local adaptation may play an important role in plant community assembly. However, herbivory only differed for H. ochraceus in early and intermediate stages, but it was not affected by the leaf traits considered here. Spectral reflectance indices also differed among successional stage for all species together and for each species separately, except for T. reticulata in intermediate and late stages. Thus, leaf spectral signatures may be an important tool to the remote detection of different successional stages in TDFs, with implications for forest management.

Ant species richness and interactions in canopies of two distinct successional stages in a tropical dry forest

2019 ◽  
Vol 106 (5-6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reuber Antoniazzi ◽  
Raphael N. S. L. Garro ◽  
Wesley Dáttilo ◽  
Sérvio P. Ribeiro ◽  
Frederico S. Neves
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Successional Stages

Unraveling the drivers of plant taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity in a human-modified tropical dry forest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kátia F. Rito ◽  
Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez ◽  
Jeannine Cavender-Bares ◽  
Edgar E. Santo-Silva ◽  
Gustavo Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Β Diversity

scholarly journals Arthropod community structure in pastures of an island archipelago (Azores): looking for local–regional species richness patterns at fine-scales

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.A.V. Borges ◽  
V.K. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Local Species Richness ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Arthropod Species ◽  
Α Diversity ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Richness Patterns

AbstractThe arthropod species richness of pastures in three Azorean islands was used to examine the relationship between local and regional species richness over two years. Two groups of arthropods, spiders and sucking insects, representing two functionally different but common groups of pasture invertebrates were investigated. The local–regional species richness relationship was assessed over relatively fine scales: quadrats (= local scale) and within pastures (= regional scale). Mean plot species richness was used as a measure of local species richness (= α diversity) and regional species richness was estimated at the pasture level (= γ diversity) with the ‘first-order-Jackknife’ estimator. Three related issues were addressed: (i) the role of estimated regional species richness and variables operating at the local scale (vegetation structure and diversity) in determining local species richness; (ii) quantification of the relative contributions of α and β diversity to regional diversity using additive partitioning; and (iii) the occurrence of consistent patterns in different years by analysing independently between-year data. Species assemblages of spiders were saturated at the local scale (similar local species richness and increasing β-diversity in richer regions) and were more dependent on vegetational structure than regional species richness. Sucking insect herbivores, by contrast, exhibited a linear relationship between local and regional species richness, consistent with the proportional sampling model. The patterns were consistent between years. These results imply that for spiders local processes are important, with assemblages in a particular patch being constrained by habitat structure. In contrast, for sucking insects, local processes may be insignificant in structuring communities.

Contrasting patterns of morphology, fluctuating asymmetry and leaf herbivory in three plant species of different successional stages of a tropical dry forest

Trees ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 1075-1086
Author(s):  
Joan Sebastian Aguilar-Peralta ◽  
Antonio González-Rodríguez ◽  
Yurixhi Maldonado-López ◽  
Marcílio Fagundes ◽  
Maurício L. Faria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Leaf Herbivory

scholarly journals β-Diversity of Functional Groups of Woody Plants in a Tropical Dry Forest in Yucatan

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e73660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Omar López-Martínez ◽  
Lucía Sanaphre-Villanueva ◽  
Juan Manuel Dupuy ◽  
José Luis Hernández-Stefanoni ◽  
Jorge Arturo Meave ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Β Diversity

Regeneration beneath a dioecious tree species (Spondias purpurea) in a Mexican tropical dry forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moisés Méndez-Toribio ◽  
Ana María González-Di Pierro ◽  
Mauricio Quesada ◽  
Julieta Benítez-Malvido
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Total Density ◽  
Dioecious Plant ◽  
Nucleation Sites ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Spondias Purpurea

Abstract:In dioecious plant species different frugivore activity between genders may influence the abundance and richness of the seedling banks underneath their canopies throughout seed removal and dispersal. In the tropical dry forest of Chamela, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the role of S. purpurea female trees as nucleation sites of regeneration was investigated. The standing density, species richness and dispersal syndrome of woody seedlings (i.e. trees and shrubs, 10–100 cm tall) recruited underneath and outside the canopy of 10 male and 10 female S. purpurea trees were recorded in a total of 160 1-m2 plots. Total density was greater in seedling communities associated with female trees (i.e. underneath and outside their canopies) as compared with male trees (231 vs. 153 seedlings, respectively); whereas overall species richness was greater underneath female canopies. Further, the density of zoochorous species were greater underneath the canopy of S. purpurea females (range = 0–5 plants m−2), than elsewhere (outside female canopies, range = 0–3 plants m−2; underneath and outside male canopies, range = 0–2 plants m−2), suggesting a directional dispersal bias towards them. Females of dioecious plant species may act as nucleation sites of initial seedling recruitment in tropical dry forests.

scholarly journals Diversidad de aves en fragmentos de bosque seco tropical en paisajes ganaderos del Departamento de Córdoba, Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 1625
Author(s):  
Jose Alejandro Vergara Paternina ◽  
Jesús Ballesteros Correa ◽  
Carlos González Charrasquiel ◽  
Juan C. Linares Arias
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Shannon Index ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Secondary Forests

In Colombia the tropical dry forest is one of the most threatened and least known ecosystems; these have been impacted by different transformation processes and habitat fragmentation, which have affected bird conditions and survival. This research evaluated the influence of landscape elements (forest and pastures with different tree covers) on bird diversity in the tropical dry forest of Córdoba, Colombia. The study was developed within an extensive livestock landscape to characterize the avifauna in four habitat types formed by fragments of secondary forests with different tree cover: secondary forest, pastures with high tree cover, pastures with low tree cover and only pastures. The influence of tree cover on bird diversity was evaluated with monthly samplings in 200 m long transects (per habitat), with two observation intervals (6:00 - 9:00 and 15:00-18:00), from September 2011 to May 2012. A total of 6 667 individuals belonging to 180 species and 48 families of birds were registered. The most abundant species were Columbina talpacoti (5.37 %), Brotogeris jugularis (5.14 %), Tyrannus melancholicus (4.81 %) and Bubulcus ibis (4.80 %). The most abundant family was Tyrannidae (16.4 %), followed by Psitacidae (9.0 %) and Columbidae (8.2 %). The family with the highest number of species was Tyrannidae with 28 species, followed by Accipitridae and Icteridae with 10 species each. The greatest species richness was present in the secondary forest habitat, followed by the pastures with high tree cover, and pastures with low cover. The lowest abundance and species richness was found in pastures without tree cover with significant differences between the habitats (Fisher, p <0.05). According to the Shannon index, the diversity of birds was higher in the secondary forests. In contrast, the lowest diversity was found in pastures without tree cover. The greatest species richness occurred in the months of October and November. In the rest of the sampling period, the number of recorded species and individuals showed some stability. The importance of trees presence in extensive livestock areas was evidenced because they help to contain an important diversity of bird species, and they also generate connectivity among fragments of secondary forests in the cattle landscape.

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