Distribution of ground-dwelling arthropods in tropical countryside habitats
|
 |
|
Post a Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
ABSTRACT:
The future of biodiversity depends to a great extent on the conservation value of human-dominated and seminatural
habitats. In a mixed agricultural landscape in southern Costa Rica, we compared the richness and composition
of terrestrial arthropod communities occurring in three habitat types along a gradient of increasing
disturbance: in a large (227 ha) forest fragment, small (3.8–5.3 ha) forest fragments, and sun coffee (1 – 3 ha)
plantations. Pitfall trap sampling revealed decreasing morphospecies richness with increasing disturbance. Moreover,
the number of species unique to a habitat type was lower in the smaller forest fragments and the coffee
sites. We found significant changes in community composition associated with habitat at the levels of order (all
arthropods), family (beetles), and morphospecies (carabids, scarabs, and ants). We identified no significant correlation
of richness among the taxonomic orders, meaning these taxa are unable to serve as biodiversity indicators
(for each other or for all arthropods) in the study region. Arthropod diversity presently found in countryside
habitats is certainly lower, and perhaps less sustainable, than that of the extensive forested habitats fragmented >
40 years ago. It nonetheless remains substantial, suggesting a conservation opportunity in human-dominated
landscapes of the tropics.
|
|
|
|
STATISTICS
|
|
Click on # to view
|
|
Citations
|
|
0
|
|
References
|
|
0
|
|
Comments
|
|
0
|
|
Quality
|
|
0/0.00
|
|
Interest
|
|
0/0.00
|
|
View(er)s
|
|
2/266
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Prev |
Next |
|