| Autor: |
Caldwell, M. M., Heldmaier, G., Jackson, R. B., Lange, O. L., Mooney, H. A., Schulze, E. -D., Sommer, U., Beck, Erwin, Bendix, Jörg, Kottke, Ingrid, Makeschin, Franz, Mosandl, Reinhard, Hilt, N., Fiedler, K. |
| Zdroj: |
Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of Ecuador; 2008, p443-449, 7p |
| Abstrakt: |
So far, little is known about the impact of habitat disturbance and subsequent regeneration on mega-diverse insect assemblages native to Andean mountain rainforests. The speciose insect order Lepidoptera provides an ideal target for such analysis. Butterflies and moths are probably the taxonomically best known insects. Moreover, lepidopterans are functionally connected in two-fold manner with the vegetation they inhabit: through the host-plant affiliations of their phytophagous larvae, as well as through the widespread need for plant-derived resources (e.g. floral nectar, rotting fruits, secondary plant compounds) during the adult phase of the life cycle. However, apart from a few recent studies on moths (for a summary, see Fiedler et al. 2007a, b), most available analyses referred only to the butterfly fauna (or some butterfly guilds such as frugivores; e.g. DeVries et al. 1997; DeVries and Walla 2001), even though moths comprise a far larger fraction of lepidopteran diversity than butterflies. Therefore, we chose two large moth families (Arctiidae, Geometridae) as models to study species diversity and turnover in a successional gradient at the edge of a natural montane rainforest in the Ecuadorian Andes. Species of both families tend to differ in their life histories, habitat fidelity, and resource requirements (e.g. Holloway 1984; Kitching and Rawlins 1999; Minet and Scoble 1999; Holloway et al. 2001). Thus we expected that arctiid and geometrid moth ensembles should respond with differential sensitivity to environmental change in the course of successional processes. E. Beck et al. (eds.), Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of Ecuador. Ecological Studies 198. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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