Patterns in diurnal co-occurrence in an assemblage of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Autor: Manuela D'AMEN, Daniele BIRTELE, Livia ZAPPONI, Sönke HARDERSEN
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Journal of Entomology, Vol 110, Iss 4, Pp 649-656 (2013)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1210-5759
1802-8829
DOI: 10.14411/eje.2013.088
Popis: In this study we analyzed the inter-specific relationships in assemblages of syrphids at a site in northern Italy in order to determine whether there are patterns in diurnal co-occurrence. We adopted a null model approach and calculated two co-occurrence metrics, the C-score and variance ratio (V-ratio), both for the total catch and of the morning (8:00-13:00) and afternoon (13:00-18:00) catches separately, and for males and females. We recorded discordant species richness, abundance and co-occurrence patterns in the samples collected. Higher species richness and abundance were recorded in the morning, when the assemblage had an aggregated structure, which agrees with previous findings on communities of invertebrate primary consumers. A segregated pattern of co-occurrence was recorded in the afternoon, when fewer species and individuals were collected. The pattern recorded is likely to be caused by a number of factors, such as a greater availability of food in the morning, prevalence of hot and dry conditions in the early afternoon, which are unfavourable for hoverflies, and possibly competition with other pollinators. Our results indicate that restricting community studies to a particular time of day will result in certain species and/or species interactions not being recorded.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals