Journal of Tropical Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Is Pitcairnia halophila really a halophyte? Evidence from a germination and growth experiment","authors":"G. Zotz, Calixto Rodríguez Quiel","doi":"10.1017/s0266467422000116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467422000116","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Many bromeliads occur in habitats that are potentially affected by salt. Pitcairnia halophila is a particularly interesting case in this context due to its growing sites in the spray zone of coastal cliffs in Central America. We conducted an experimental/observational study that explored the physiological and ecological basis of the occurrence of this species. Germination of P. halophila was as affected by increasing salinity as that of congeneric species from other natural growing sites, but seedling growth was less impaired in comparison and remained positive even at exposure to half-strength seawater. Interestingly, in situ plant nutrient concentrations documented over an entire growing season suggest that this capacity to tolerate salt stress is not tested at the natural growing site – Na+ concentrations were consistently low in leaves and shoots and comparable to those of seedlings watered with distilled water in the laboratory. We conclude that P. halophila shows the physiological ability to deal with medium levels of salinity, but ecological conditions at the humid tropical growing site allow these plants to avoid salt stress entirely in spite of the close proximity to the sea.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43275139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) consume and share mammalian prey at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo","authors":"E. McLester","doi":"10.1017/s026646742200013x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s026646742200013x","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Predator–prey dynamics are an important aspect of community ecology, but predation events are often difficult to observe. Among African primates, observations of mammal predation are particularly uncommon and generally restricted to a few ape and cercopithecoid species. I report five observations of mammal predation by golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) living in rainforest at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over 46 all-day follows, mangabeys from one group caught and consumed four duikers (Cephalophinae spp.) and one Alexander’s cusimanse (Crossarchus alexandri). Individuals begged from the feeding individual in three of five observations. I observed one successful attempt at begging, which resulted in an adult female tolerating removal of blue duiker by a juvenile. These are the first detailed observations of mammal predation and food sharing by Cercocebus mangabeys and suggest mammals that feed alongside mangabeys may balance predation risk against social foraging benefits. Food sharing is rarely observed in most cercopithecine monkeys and could provide a useful metric to examine socio-ecological patterns of food acquisition.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42143065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Overcoming the regeneration barriers of tropical dry forest: effects of water stress and herbivory on seedling performance and allocation of key tree species for restoration","authors":"C. Cárdenas, Daniela Varón-García, Freddy Suárez-Rodríguez, C. Pizano","doi":"10.1017/s0266467422000074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467422000074","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Tropical dry forests (TDF) are one of the most threatened and poorly protected ecosystems in the Americas. Although there are international efforts for the restoration of TDF, how stress factors such as herbivory or water limitation due to changes in precipitation, impact the regeneration dynamics of these forests is poorly understood. Specifically, how seedlings of key tree species for TDF restoration cope with current abiotic pressures such as the intensification of climatic events, and biotic factors like herbivory, is not yet fully understood. Here, we compared seedling performance, and allocation of biomass, and water to roots vs. shoots for three legume, and one non-legume TDF tree species, as a response to water limitation and herbivory in an 8-month greenhouse experiment. Contrary to our expectations, we found that the non-legume species, G. ulmifolia, had the best performance compared to legumes, while N-fixing and non-fixing legumes showed similar performance. Based on our findings, we suggest the use of G. ulmifolia in TDF restoration projects due to its high performance despite abiotic and biotic stress factors, its allocation of biomass and water to belowground structures. We also recommend the use of N-fixing legume species owing to their ability to fix nitrogen, which guarantees an N input to the soil, important in the first stages of succession. However, the legume species used in this experiment do not appear to resist the abiotic and biotic stressors studied. Thus, more studies exploring the response of dry forest plant species to stress factors are key for informing and assuring more effective TDF restoration efforts.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46843208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What happens to epiphytic bromeliads in a windy spot?","authors":"H. Einzmann, G. Zotz, Jessica Y. L. Tay","doi":"10.1017/s0266467422000037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467422000037","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Several studies of hurricane damage on epiphyte communities implied that epiphytes might be in danger of being blown off their host when subjected to strong wind. There is very limited knowledge about the mechanical impact that wind may have on epiphytes. Using a wind-triggered camera set-up, we observed how epiphytic tank bromeliads are affected by wind. Despite offering a relatively large area of ‘attack’ to the airflow, bromeliads moved relatively little themselves. Rather than being directly moved by wind, the bromeliads in the upper crown of tall trees moved with the sway of the branches. Only when the substrate did not move, bromeliads with long broad leaves showed considerable disturbance due to wind. Our observations underline the complexity of the system and emphasise that our current understanding of the mechanical aspects of the epiphyte–host system is still very limited.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47616321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Limited influence of experimentally induced predation risk on granivory in a tropical forest","authors":"A. Granados, H. Bernard, J. Brodie","doi":"10.1017/s0266467422000050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467422000050","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Seed predation by rodents can strongly influence plant recruitment and establishment. The extent to which predation risk indirectly alters plant survival in tropical forests via impacts on granivory is unclear, making it difficult to assess the cascading impacts of widespread predator loss on tree recruitment and species composition. Experimental field studies that manipulate predation risk can help address these knowledge gaps and reveal whether antipredator responses among small mammals influence plant survival. We used camera traps and seed predation experiments to test the effects of perceived predation risk (via predator urine gel) on foraging behaviour of and seed removal by murid rodents in an unlogged and unhunted rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. We also explored the influence of seed traits (e.g., seed size) on removal by granivores and assessed whether granivore preferences for particular species were affected by predator urine. Murid visits to seed plots were positively related to overall seed removal, but were not affected by predator scent. Granivory was the lowest for the largest-seeded (>6 g) plant in our study, but was not influenced by predation risk. Predator urine significantly affected removal of one seed taxon (Dimoocarpus, ∼0.8 g), suggesting that removal by granivores may be affected by predation risk for some seed species but not others. This could have implications for plant species composition but may not affect the overall level of granivory.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46422794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of rhizosphere activity on litter decomposition in subtropical forest: implications of estimating soil organic matter contributions to soil respiration","authors":"Xiaoqing Wu, Changjiang Huang, L. Sha, Chuansheng Wu","doi":"10.1017/s0266467422000013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467422000013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Litter decomposition plays an important role in the carbon cycle and is affected by many factors in forest ecosystems. This study aimed to quantify the rhizosphere priming effect on litter decomposition in subtropical forest southwestern China. A litter decomposition experiment including control and trenching treatments was conducted using the litter bag method, and the litter decomposition rate was calculated by litter dry mass loss. Trenching did not change soil temperature, but increased the soil water content by 14.5%. In this study, the interaction of soil temperature and soil water content controlled the litter decomposition rate, and explained 87.4 and 85.5% of the variation in litter decomposition in the control and trenching treatments, respectively. Considering changes in soil environmental factors due to trenching, the litter decomposition rates were corrected by regression models. After correction, the litter decomposition rates of the control and trenching treatments were 32.47 ± 3.15 and 25.71 ± 2.72% year–1, respectively, in the 2-year period. Rhizosphere activity significantly primed litter decomposition by 26.3%. Our study suggested a priming effect of rhizosphere activity on litter decomposition in the subtropical forest. Combining previous interaction effect results, we estimated the contributions of total soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition, total litter decomposition, and root respiration to soil respiration in the subtropical forest, and our new method of estimating the components of soil respiration provided basic theory for SOM decomposition research.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47624896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental correlates of some selected fish species in the Jebba Dam, North-Central Nigeria","authors":"S. O. Oladipo, L. M. Nneji, A. V. Adeniyi, O. A. Adeyemi-Ale, K. Adelakun","doi":"10.1017/s0266467421000511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467421000511","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 There is a lack of comprehensive understanding of environmental factors influencing fish species’ abundance and distribution in some Nigerian freshwater ecosystems. Our study investigated the environmental factors that drive the abundance and distribution of three economically important fishes – Lates niloticus, Citharinus citharus, and Distichondus rostratus – in Jebba Hydroelectric power dam in Northcentral Nigeria. The species catch abundance was determined using gillnets of different mesh sizes, each measuring 50 m length and 20 m deep. The physicochemical parameters were also assessed following standard methods. A total relative abundance of 47.49%, 27.74%, 24.77% were observed for C. citharus, L. niloticus, and D. rostratus, respectively. The canonical correspondence analysis showed that the catch abundance of L. niloticus associates with water volume, turbidity, phosphate, and hydrogen carbonate. Analysis showed that water hardness, biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), and chloride levels drive the catch abundance of D. rostratus, while C. citharus associates with temperature and depth. The linear Pearson correlation showed a strong positive relationship of the abundance of L. niloticus with turbidity, phosphate, total suspended solids, hydrogen carbonate, water depth, temperature, and water volume. Our result showed a strong positive association of the abundance of C. citharus with water volume, total dissolved solids, temperature, and water depth. A strong positive relationship of the abundance of D. rostratus with conductivity, water depth, and total dissolved solids was reported. Our study improved knowledge on the environmental factors affecting the abundance of three economically important freshwater fishes in Jebba Hydroelectric dam. Further study is needed to investigate the impact of global climate change on the future distribution of these freshwater fish species.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45084356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Local environmental context determines the colonisation of leaf shelters by arthropods: an experimental study","authors":"S. Novais, V. Hernández‐Ortiz, K. Rodríguez-Hernández, M. Quesada, G. Fernandes, Carolina Bañol-Pérez, E. A. Sánchez-García, Fabian A. Aldaba-Núñez, L. J. Méndez-Vázquez, Manuel Ochoa, Marisol A. Zurita-Solís, A. Aguirre‐Jaimes","doi":"10.1017/s0266467421000523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467421000523","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The magnitude of facilitation by shelter-building engineers on community structure is expected to be greater when they increase limited resources in the environment. We evaluated the influence of local environmental context on the colonisation of leaf shelters by arthropods in a Mexican evergreen tropical rainforest. We compared the species richness and abundance of arthropods (total and for different guilds) colonising artificially rolled leaves in habitats differing in understory heterogeneity (forest edge > old-growth forests > living fences). Arthropod abundance of the most representative arthropod taxa (i.e., Araneae, Blattodea, Collembola and Psocoptera) colonising the rolled leaves was greater at forest edge, a trend also observed for average arthropod abundance, and for detritivore and predator guilds. In addition, fewer arthropod species and individuals colonised the rolled leaves in the living fence habitat, a trend also observed for most arthropod guilds. As forest edge is expected to have a greater arthropod diversity and stronger density-dependent interactions, a greater limitation of refuges from competitors or predators may have determined the higher colonisation of the rolled leaves in this habitat. Our results demonstrate that local environment context is an important factor that affects the colonisation of arthropods in leaf shelters.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46670127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the utility of protected area status and conservation legislation in tropical forest conservation using satellite data: a case study of the great hornbill in Thailand","authors":"Naparat Suttidate","doi":"10.1017/s0266467421000560","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467421000560","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Preserving wildlife and their environment from anthropogenic activities requires identification and establishment of protected areas, and monitoring of their long-term effects on wildlife and habitat. Tropical forests are one of the most at-risk habitats and many tropical species have become extinct recently due to human activity. It is imperative to monitor habitat in protected areas and without in order to identify strategies and legislative policies that optimize conservation outcomes. To this end, I quantified habitat fragmentation for the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, pre- and post-establishment, within and outside the protected area, from 1973, 1985, and 1992, to assess the effectiveness of the protected area status, established in 1978, and a national logging ban, established in 1989, in preserving and restoring hornbill habitat. The results demonstrate that the establishment of Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary did not decrease the rate of hornbill habitat fragmentation relative to areas outside the protected area. While the protected area had less fragmentation to begin with, protection status did not affect the rate of loss. Fragmentation increased significantly both inside and outside the protected area between the first and second time points (p < 0.05), after the protected area was first established. However, the national logging ban policy implemented in 1985 seems to have successfully halted the fragmentation of habitat within the protected area and surrounding unprotected areas, with all areas showing no significant change (p > 0.05). While not significant, the rate of fragmentation outside the protected area was greater. This suggests that the establishment of a protected area alone may not be sufficient to stop or reverse anthropogenic damage to endangered habitat and the species that utilize these environments. The incorporation of multiple strategies for management is likely needed to increase the ability of protected areas to preserve tropical forest species and habitats. The assessment of protected areas via satellite and ground-level data is an essential tool for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies and improving outcomes.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45220963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Females restrict the position of domatia and suffer more herbivory than hermaphrodites in Myriocarpa longipes, a neotropical facultative myrmecophyte","authors":"M. A. Sandoval-Molina, Bernardo Rafael Lugo-García, Alan Daniel Mendoza-Mendoza, M. Janczur","doi":"10.1017/s0266467421000584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467421000584","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Domatia are hollow structures in plants occupied by ant colonies, in turn ants provide protection against herbivores. In plants, competition for resources has driven sex-related changes in the patterns of resource allocation to life-history traits and defence traits. The resource-competition hypothesis (RCH) proposes that female plants due to their higher investment in reproduction will allocate fewer resources to defence production, showing greater herbivore damage than other sexual forms. We hypothesise the existence of sex-related differences in defensive traits of domatia-bearing plants, being female plants less defended due to differences in domatia traits, such as size, number of domatia and their position, exhibiting more herbivore damage than hermaphrodite plants of Myriocarpa longipes, a facultative neotropical myrmecophyte. We found eight species of ants inhabiting domatia; some species co-inhabited the same plant, even the same branch. Our results are consistent with the predictions of RCH, as female plants had ant-inhabited domatia restricted to the middle position of their branches and exhibited greater herbivore damage in leaves than hermaphrodites. However, we did not find differences in domatia size and leaf area between sexual forms. Our study provides evidence for intersexual differences in domatia position and herbivory in a facultative ant–plant mutualism in M. longipes. We highlight the importance of considering the plant sex in ant–plant interactions. Differences in resource allocation related to sexual reproduction could influence the outcome of ant–plant interactions.","PeriodicalId":49968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49037853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}