Beetle assemblages from an Australian tropical rainforest show that the canopy and the ground strata contribute equally to biodiversity
- 19 April 2006
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings. Biological sciences
- Vol. 273 (1596), 1969-1975
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3521
Abstract
There remains great uncertainty about how much tropical forest canopies contribute to global species richness estimates and the relative specialization of insect species to vertical zones. To investigate these issues, we conducted a four-year sampling program in lowland tropical rainforest in North Queensland, Australia. Beetles were sampled using a trap that combines Malaise and flight interception trap (FIT) functions. Pairs of this trap, one on the ground and a second suspended 15-20 m above in the canopy were located at five sites, spaced 50 m or more apart. These traps produced 29986 beetles of 1473 species and 77 families. There were similar numbers of individuals (canopy 14473; ground 15513) and species (canopy 1158; ground 895) in each stratum, but significantly more rare species in the canopy (canopy 509; ground 283). Seventy two percent of the species (excluding rare species) were found in both strata. Using IndVal, we found 24 and 27% of the abundant species (n>or=20 individuals) to be specialized to the canopy and the ground strata, respectively, and equivalent analyses at the family level showed figures of 30 and 22%, respectively. These results show that the canopy and the ground strata both provide important contributions to rainforest biodiversity.Keywords
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Vertical stratification of leaf-beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in two forest types in PanamaJournal of Tropical Ecology, 2005
- The verification and application of bioindicators: a case study of dung beetles in a savanna ecosystemJournal of Applied Ecology, 2002
- Species diversity and community structure in neotropical fruit-feeding butterfliesBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2001
- Stratification and diel activity of arthropods in a lowland rainforest in GabonBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2001
- Stratification of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in a primary rain forest in Sabah, BorneoJournal of Tropical Ecology, 1998
- Species diversity in vertical, horizontal, and temporal dimensions of a fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Ecuadorian rainforestBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 1997
- Seasonality and vertical structure of light‐attracted insect communities in a dipterocarp forest in SarawakPopulation Ecology, 1995
- Species InventoryPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1992
- A Comparison of Ground and Canopy Leaf Litter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Neotropical Montane ForestPsyche: A Journal of Entomology, 1990
- Arthropods from the canopy of inundated and terra firme forests near Manaus, Brazil, with critical considerations on the pyrethrum‐fogging technique*Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 1984