Biotropica最新文献

{"title":"When Raptors Are Away, Opossums Will Play: Woolly Opossums as Carrion Feeders in Harpy Eagle Nests","authors":"João Pedro Fernandes Machado,&nbsp;Thiago Borges F. Semedo,&nbsp;Everton B. P. Miranda,&nbsp;Guilherme S. T. Garbino","doi":"10.1111/btp.70102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70102","url":null,"abstract":"<p>During a 12-month camera trap study, we recorded woolly opossums scavenging prey remains from a Harpy eagle's nest in central Brazil. We review scavenging by New World marsupials and propose future studies using camera traps and experimental carcass removal to better understand this overlooked ecological interaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70102","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145223926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age and Sex Influence Seed Dispersal of Native and Non-Native Plants by Lion-Tailed Macaques","authors":"Bindu Kempegowda,&nbsp;Honnavalli N. Kumara,&nbsp;Rohit Naniwadekar","doi":"10.1111/btp.70106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70106","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Seed dispersal is a critical process in tropical forests. While interspecific variation is relatively well studied, intraspecific variation, as a consequence of differences in body size, foraging behaviors, and ranging patterns, remains understudied. Among vertebrates, primates play a critical role in seed dispersal and exhibit behavioral differences between age and sex categories, making them a suitable study system for intraspecific variation in seed dispersal. Lion-tailed macaques, an endemic frugivorous primate in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, provide an excellent model for such studies. Here, we examined the influence of age and sex on (a) diversity of native and non-native fruits consumed; (b) quantity of native and non-native fruits consumed; (c) number of seeds dispersed; (d) movement rates; and (e) seed deposition substrates in lion-tailed macaques. We conducted over 320 h of focal animal sampling in two troops, distributed evenly across adult males, adult females, and subadult males. In both troops, adult males and subadult males consumed a greater diversity of native fruits. While adult females consumed a higher diversity and greater proportion of non-native fruits, subadult males consumed a higher proportion of native fruits. In one troop, subadult males dispersed fewer <i>Ficus</i> seeds than adult females. We found significant differences in relative proportions of non-native species consumed across age-sex categories, though the patterns varied across troops. Our study highlights that the relative differences across age-sex categories may differ across troops, which suggests an idiosyncratic contribution by different age-sex categories across different troops in seed dispersal and consequent recruitment of their food plants.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Leaf Conditions Affect the Landing Success of Fallen Tropical Ants","authors":"Andrew R. Seiler,&nbsp;Alyssa Y. Stark,&nbsp;Stephen P. Yanoviak","doi":"10.1111/btp.70107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70107","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Falling to the ground is hazardous for arboreal ants. Workers of six ant species dropped onto leaves had the lowest landing success on inclined and wet leaves; epiphyll presence and ant body size had no effect. Consequently, landing on leaves in wet forests apparently is challenging for arboreal ants.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145146895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Soil Enzyme Stoichiometry Indicates the Alleviation of Microbial Carbon and Nutrient Limitations After Forest Restoration in Rubber Monocultures, Southwest China","authors":"Sujan Balami,&nbsp;Yu-Xuan Mo,&nbsp;Hai-Xia Hu,&nbsp;Xian-Meng Shi,&nbsp;Liang Song","doi":"10.1111/btp.70104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70104","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The rapid expansion of rubber monocultures over the past two decades has degraded extensive areas of tropical rainforest, raising concerns about their restoration. A key factor influencing the recovery of these forests remains their microbially mediated biogeochemical cycling processes. Here, we investigated changes in soil carbon and nutrient concentration, the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P)-acquiring soil extracellular enzyme activities and their stoichiometric ratios (reflecting microbial nutrient limitations) following forest restoration in rubber monocultures. Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of restoration strategies (natural regeneration and restoration plantings) and soil abiotic properties on enzyme activities and examined correlations between soil nutrient concentration and enzyme activities stoichiometric ratios. Our findings revealed that the enzyme activities in restored forests differed significantly from those in rubber monocultures, with higher or lower activities depending on the enzyme types and the restoration strategies. As restoration advanced, the enzyme C:N:P became relatively balanced, indicating an alleviation of microbial C- and N-limitation. Both restoration strategies alleviated microbial C-limitation to a similar extent, but restoration plantings showed a higher alleviation of microbial N-limitation than natural regeneration. Soil pH emerged as the main factor influencing enzyme activities. The increase in soil total P concentration significantly decreased microbial C-limitation but increased N-limitation. Furthermore, the increase in soil C:P and N:P ratios significantly alleviated the microbial N-limitation. Our findings highlight that converting monoculture rubber plantations back into tropical forests through natural regeneration and restoration plantings promotes positive changes in soil microbial activity, alleviates microbial nutrient limitations, and fosters a more balanced nutrient acquisition strategy. These results provide critical scientific support for ecological restoration efforts in tropical regions.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145111326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Seedling Trait Variation and Functional Space Occupation Responses to Topographic Water Shifts in A Tropical Dry Forest","authors":"Juan Manuel Cely,&nbsp;María Natalia Umaña,&nbsp;Natalia Norden,&nbsp;Roy González-M,&nbsp;Camila Pizano,&nbsp;Beatriz Salgado-Negret","doi":"10.1111/btp.70096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70096","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Water availability can change substantially at local scales due to topography (i.e., valleys and ridges), filtering out species depending upon their ecological strategies. Under drier conditions on ridges, species are expected to exhibit denser tissues, increased hydraulic safety, and greater water exploration, while simultaneously reducing their functional space, as low water availability acts as an environmental filter. However, it is commonly observed that generalist species are able to perform across a wide range of habitats, and it remains unclear how topographic heterogeneity influences their traits. In this study, we assessed intraspecific trait variation between valleys and ridges for 11 tree generalist species. We focused on ten morphological, physiological, and biomass allocation traits. To account for integrated plant responses, we also measured functional space occupation. We found higher leaf drought tolerance (lower turgor loss point), greater soil exploration (root mass fraction), and less dense tissues (leaf thickness and root tissue density) in drier ridges. Remarkably, <i>π</i>_tlp was the only trait that consistently varied across all species studied, indicating a strong sensitivity of physiological traits to local-scale abiotic changes. Additionally, we found that generalist species exhibited a broader range of functional traits at drier topographic positions, raising new questions about trait optimization in species with these resource use strategies. Overall, the level of intraspecific trait variability enables species to cope with variations in water availability at small spatial scales. We emphasize the importance of considering small-scale abiotic variation and physiological traits to enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of community assembly.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145111325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Correction to “Mangrove Pollinator Functional Diversity Decreases With Patch Size and Landscape Anthropization”","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/btp.70103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70103","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Montoya-Pfeiffer, P. M., C. E. Sarmiento, A. Montoya, E. Buenaventura, and J. A. Rodríguez-Rodríguez. “Mangrove Pollinator Functional Diversity Decreases with Patch Size and Landscape Anthropization.” <i>Biotropica</i> 57.5 (2025): e70084.</p><p>The <i>y</i>-axis labels in plots for Figure 2e–f are incorrect: They should read “Diversity” instead of “Richness”. The corrected figure is presented here.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70103","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145111302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predatory Spiders Limit Bromeliad-Dwelling Frog Assemblages in the Absence of Habitat Effects","authors":"F. D. Crispim,&nbsp;M. C. Oliveira,&nbsp;R. Lourenço-de-Moraes","doi":"10.1111/btp.70097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70097","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Bromeliads provide key microhabitats for many tropical anurans, offering water reservoirs for reproduction and shelter from predators. We investigated the factors influencing anuran occupancy in bromeliad patches in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. Over 13 months, we surveyed 100 bromeliad patches, each consisting of 4–104 individual plants, and recorded eight anuran species, all bromelicolous. Contrary to expectations, morphological traits of bromeliads—including species, size, and spatial arrangement—had no significant effect on anuran richness or abundance. Likewise, canopy cover did not significantly influence anuran richness or abundance, and temperature and humidity were excluded from analysis due to low variation across sampling sites. Despite favorable structural conditions, overall species diversity was low. In contrast, the presence of the predatory theraphosid spider <i>Pachistopelma rufonigrum</i> had a strong negative effect on anuran occupancy, emerging as the most influential factor in our models. This predator–prey interaction may contribute to the apparent absence of bromeligenous frog species in the study area. Our findings highlight the role of biotic interactions—rather than habitat structure—in shaping anuran assemblages in bromeliad microhabitats.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Biotropica Announces a New Editor-In-Chief","authors":"Jennifer S. Powers","doi":"10.1111/btp.70066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><i>Biotropica</i> is pleased to announce its ninth editor, Professor Rhett D. Harrison. Professor Harrison is a senior scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF based in Zambia. He received his PhD from Kyoto University in 2000, studying fig–fig wasp interactions in Borneo, and did postdocs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Research Institute for Humanity &amp; Nature, and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia before taking a position at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in 2009. In 2013, he moved to the Kunming Institute of Botany to head up their laboratory of tropical forest conservation, before moving to Zambia in 2016 with World Agroforestry (ICRAF). He brings a wealth of experience in tropical biology and conservation, studying questions in the fields of landscape ecology, conservation biology, biodiversity, agroecology, and restoration. Through his research, which is invariably transdisciplinary, he has collaborated with a wide variety of people and institutions. Current projects include developing methods for community conservation monitoring in Papua New Guinea and DRC, community forestry in Zambia, Cocoa Agroforestry in Sierra Leone, and agroecological approaches to pest management in southern Africa. In 2006, he set up the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Association for Tropical Biology &amp; Conservation (ATBC). He has previously served as a subject editor for <i>Ecological Research</i> and the <i>Journal of Plant Research</i>, and Editor-in-Chief for the <i>Malayan Nature Journal</i>. We welcome Dr. Harrison and look forward to his leadership.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70066","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145058070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forest-Associated Understorey Birds Persist in Agroforestry Orchards Within Tropical Rubber and Oil Palm Landscapes","authors":"Muhammad Syafiq Yahya,&nbsp;Sharifah Nur Atikah,&nbsp;Ruzana Sanusi,&nbsp;Ahmad Razi Norhisham,&nbsp;Badrul Azhar","doi":"10.1111/btp.70099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70099","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Tropical agricultural landscapes can support biodiversity, including forest spill-over species, shaped by habitat factors operating at multiple scales. Understanding these factors is crucial for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. Using mist-netting data, this study examined how land-cover changes influence understorey birds and identified key factors at stand and landscape levels, along with a site-specific feature, affecting bird assemblages in agroforestry orchards, rubber tree, and oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. We captured 39 species over 9900 netting hours, with forest-associated species comprising 33% of the total. Agricultural type emerged as a primary driver of bird diversity, with agroforestry orchards supporting greater species richness and abundance. Canopy cover negatively influenced species richness, total abundance, and the occurrence of carnivorous/insectivorous and granivorous/frugivorous birds. Understorey vegetation height positively impacted bird total abundance. Elevation negatively influenced bird abundance and the occurrence of omnivores but positively affected forest-associated species. Distance to forest was negatively correlated with bird abundance and the occurrence of omnivorous birds. Our findings highlight agroforestry orchards as avian refuges and biological corridors that enhance landscape connectivity and ecosystem functioning in agricultural areas. Specifically, in our region, dense canopy cover in monoculture plantations reduced bird richness and abundance, likely due to reduced sunlight suppressing understorey vegetation and limiting resource availability. Conversely, agroforestry orchards with more open canopies and structurally complex vegetation supported a greater diversity of feeding guilds, including certain forest-associated species. These results underscore the importance of managing tropical farmland by maintaining understorey growth, increasing canopy heterogeneity, and reducing isolation from forest remnants.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145058039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Short-Term Effects of El Niño (2023–2024 ENSO) Drought on Predation Patterns of Lepidopteran Prey in an Urban-Agricultural Ecosystems","authors":"Janine C. Edradan,&nbsp;Asraf K. Lidasan,&nbsp;Christian Jay M. Sabanal,&nbsp;Pearl Ansel S. Dela Serna,&nbsp;Faith Molina,&nbsp;Xesca Michaela P. Delos Reyes,&nbsp;Tricksy S. Cabuyadao,&nbsp;Angelo R. Agduma,&nbsp;Kier C. Dela Cruz,&nbsp;Krizler C. Tanalgo","doi":"10.1111/btp.70098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70098","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>El Niño events can significantly disrupt ecosystem dynamics by altering species distribution, population size, and food web interactions, often leading to biodiversity losses and imbalances in ecological relationships. Although an understanding of El Niño-associated climate and weather changes is critical, their impact on ecological interactions in the tropics remains understudied. We investigated differences in the predation rate of lepidopteran larvae across El Niño phases within an urban-agricultural landscape in Southcentral Mindanao, the Philippines. Our results demonstrate notable variations throughout the El Niño phases. Predation rates were considerably higher in the pre-El Niño phase (mean ± SD = 18.24% ± 13.48%) than during the peak of the El Niño phase (mean ± SD = 6.41% ± 10.20%) and showed a slight, yet statistically insignificant, rise in the post-El Niño phase (mean = 9.48% ± 17.66%). Although predation by arthropods on herbivorous preys remained predominant during all periods, vertebrate predation was related to the warmer and drier conditions of El Niño associated with the 2023 ENSO. Our study provides initial insights into how El Niño events shape prey–predator relationships and sustain key ecological functions through species interactions, laying a crucial foundation for future research on the ecological impacts of El Niño droughts in tropical agro-urban systems. We highlight the importance of considering climate variability in predator–prey dynamics and recommend future studies on long-term recovery, habitat restoration, and climate-adaptive strategies to strengthen ecosystem resilience.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145058040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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}