Biotropica最新文献

{"title":"Potential Range Shifts of Exotic Plants: Insights From a Mining-Affected River Basin in Southeast Brazil","authors":"Flávio Mariano Machado Mota,&nbsp;Débora Lima-Santos,&nbsp;Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira,&nbsp;Maria Eduarda Rodrigues dos Santos,&nbsp;Geraldo Wilson Fernandes","doi":"10.1111/btp.70268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70268","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The concurrent effects of climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, such as mining disasters, can significantly influence the distribution of exotic plant species, either by reducing climatic suitability for some taxa or by creating disturbed conditions that favor their establishment and spread. However, these interactions remain poorly understood. This study examines the potential future distribution of exotic plant species in the Doce River Basin, southeastern Brazil, a region severely impacted by the 2015 Samarco dam collapse. Using ecological niche models, we predicted the climatically suitable area for eight exotic species recorded in the basin and overlaid these predictions with the area directly affected by mining tailings. Our results show that most of the basin will retain suitable climatic conditions for these species, with <i>Cajanus cajan</i>, <i>Citrus ×limon</i>, <i>Leucaena leucocephala</i>, <i>Pennisetum purpureum</i>, and <i>Psidium guajava</i> showing relative climatic stability under both intermediate and high temperature increase scenarios. In contrast, <i>Brachiaria decumbens</i> and <i>Desmodium adscendens</i> are expected to experience losses of climatically suitable area under both scenarios, while <i>Syzygium jambos</i> shows reductions mainly under the high temperature increase scenario. Within the tailings-affected area, climatically suitable conditions remained stable for most species, with reductions concentrated in these same taxa. The persistence of suitable climatic conditions in disturbed sites may still facilitate exotic species establishment and spread, increasing biological invasion risk. These results underscore the need for continuous monitoring and ecological restoration, and highlight the importance of incorporating soil conditions and anthropogenic factors into future models to better predict invasion dynamics in mining-affected tropical ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70268","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149068396","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":"Urban Environments Reshape Reproductive Phenology in Plants Across the Tropics","authors":"Rohit Raj Jha,&nbsp;Anita Simha,&nbsp;Richard Ekeng Ita,&nbsp;Rachana Rao,&nbsp;Daijiang Li,&nbsp;Gaurav Kandlikar","doi":"10.1111/btp.70272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70272","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Plant phenological responses to global change phenomena like urbanization remain understudied in the tropics, hindering predictions regarding the dynamics of tropical ecosystems amid rapid land use changes. Studies of tropical phenology are often constrained by limited availability of phenological data, especially in urbanized landscapes. Observations recorded on citizen science platforms can overcome this limitation by providing high-resolution, spatially distributed data. In this study, we utilize records from iNaturalist to evaluate plant reproductive phenology in tropical urban vs. rural habitats. We first compare iNaturalist data (217,991 records) to herbarium collections (111,533 records) in order to validate their use, and we then investigate urban–rural reproductive phenology differences for 124 species, within 106 25 × 25 km grid cells. Data from iNaturalist and herbarium yield complementary insights regarding plant phenology in rural regions. With iNaturalist observations, we find that on average, plants in urban settings have significantly longer reproductive duration (estimate = 22 ± 9.16 SE, <i>p</i> = 0.001) and correspondingly weaker strength of seasonality than in nearby rural localities. We also find trait-mediated variation in these patterns, with annual and herbaceous plants showing the most pronounced differences in reproductive duration and seasonality strength. These results suggest that urbanization in tropical landscapes may alter plant reproductive phenology, with potential impacts on demographic processes like reproduction, recruitment, and survival. Our work also highlights the value of integrating insights from herbarium collections with citizen science data for broad-scale insights into ecological dynamics in tropical urban landscapes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149068531","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":"Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Communities Associated With Hopea odorata (Dipterocarpaceae) Planted in Tropical Urban Parks in Singapore","authors":"Jun Qiang Karl Png,&nbsp;Donghui Hu,&nbsp;Elango Velautham,&nbsp;Eunyoung Chae","doi":"10.1111/btp.70269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70269","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Members of the family Dipterocarpaceae are ecologically and economically important timber trees, many of which are threatened with extinction. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi form critical symbiotic associations with this family; however, their diversity and composition in tropical urban environments remain inadequately documented. Here, we characterize ECM fungal communities associated with the widely planted dipterocarp <i>Hopea odorata</i> in urban parks in Singapore through DNA metabarcoding. Fifty soil and root samples were collected beneath <i>H. odorata</i> at 10 locations, with two locations sampled within each of five parks. Based on the UNITE database, six ECM fungal genera and 21 ECM fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified. Community composition varied significantly among parks, whereas alpha diversity remained consistent. <i>Tomentella</i> species were the most frequently encountered ECM fungal taxa and exhibited the greatest number of OTUs. None of the measured soil properties (pH, sand, silt, clay content) showed a significant relationship with alpha diversity or community composition. These findings indicate that <i>H. odorata</i> functions as a generalist host in urban parks, supporting low diversity ECM fungal assemblages but contributing to the conservation of ECM fungal diversity in tropical urban settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70269","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149068399","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":"Present and Future Distribution of Apochloa molinioides and Trichanthecium wettsteinii in the Brazilian Campos Rupestres: Ecological Modeling for Climate-Smart Conservation","authors":"Paula Alves Oliveira,&nbsp;Ricardo Siqueira da Silva,&nbsp;Eric Bastos Gorgens,&nbsp;Thaís Ribeiro Costa,&nbsp;Philipe Guilherme Corcino Souza,&nbsp;Israel Marinho Pereira","doi":"10.1111/btp.70276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70276","url":null,"abstract":"<p>High-elevation ecosystems are among the most sensitive to climate change, responding more rapidly than low-elevation environments. However, few studies have shown the effects of climate change on grass species in these environments. Among them, <i>Apochloa molinioides</i> and <i>Trichanthecium wettsteinii</i> (Poaceae) are notable for occurring in high-elevation environments and for their potential use in ecological restoration. In this context, we evaluated the impact of climate change on the potential distribution of these species using MaxEnt modeling under current and future scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5), focusing on the Serra do Espinhaço Biosphere Reserve (RBSE), Brazil. Seven environmental variables with a spatial resolution of approximately 1 km were selected. The models showed elevation as the environmental variable with the greatest contribution. Based on current conditions, the areas of greatest climatic suitability for both species are located in the central-west, northeast, and southeast regions of Brazil, particularly at higher elevations in Minas Gerais and Bahia, along the RBSE. There was a gradual reduction in the suitable area for both species due to climate change. The areas with the greatest climatic suitability for the maintenance of <i>A. molinioides</i> and <i>T. wettsteinii</i> in the future were within the limits of the RBSE. Our model contributes to the protection and conservation of these species in the RBSE by identifying areas of high environmental suitability under current and future climate scenarios. This allows the prioritization of sites for conservation, supports decision-making in restoration planning, and helps anticipate potential range shifts caused by climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70276","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149068534","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":"Human Disturbances and Woody Flora Diversity Along a Caatinga–Brejo de Altitude Gradient in Northeastern Brazil","authors":"Lilia Patricia Sampaio Sousa,&nbsp;Katharyne Jessyca Carvalho de Barbosa,&nbsp;Wanessa Vieira Silva Menezes Batista,&nbsp;Elâine Maria dos Santos Ribeiro","doi":"10.1111/btp.70264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70264","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Tropical dry forests are among the ecosystems most threatened by human activities worldwide. The Caatinga, a seasonally dry tropical forest restricted to northeastern Brazil, exemplifies this scenario, as local human populations strongly depend on forest resources. In some areas within the Caatinga, increasing elevation promotes the formation of isolated humid montane forests locally known as Brejos de Altitude. In this study, we aimed to investigate patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic alpha (α) and beta (β) diversity of woody plants along a Caatinga–Brejo de Altitude gradient, considering the effects of acute and chronic anthropogenic disturbances. Floristic data and chronic disturbance measurements were conducted in 25 10-m² plots. Acute disturbances were identified through field observations and satellite imagery analyses using QGIS and Fragstat. Taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity metrics were calculated at both α- and β-diversity scales. The influence of acute and chronic disturbances and altitude on α- and β-diversity metrics was evaluated using multimodel inference. We found that taxonomic and phylogenetic α-diversity were not influenced by the evaluated predictors. In contrast, elevation and proportion of agricultural land affected taxonomic β-diversity, promoting species replacement along the gradient. Phylogenetic β-diversity was also influenced by elevation, agricultural land use, and chronic disturbance, although these variables exerted contrasting effects. We conclude that β-diversity is more sensitive to disturbance and elevation, which promoted species replacement and changes in the composition of woody flora along the Caatinga–Brejo de Altitude gradient.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70264","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149048074","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":"Effects of Land-Use Intensification on Floral Resources, Bird Assemblages and Bird-Flower Interaction Networks in the Western Ghats, India","authors":"Nandita Madhu,&nbsp;Vishal Sadekar,&nbsp;Rajah Jayapal,&nbsp;Rohit Naniwadekar","doi":"10.1111/btp.70262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70262","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Agricultural expansion is a major driver of tropical forest loss globally, making it critical to determine factors that maintain plant–animal interactions such as nectarivory, in human-dominated landscapes. In the Paleotropics, which is experiencing rapid expansion of tree crop plantations, few studies have compared floral and nectar-feeding bird communities, their interactions, and network organization along a tree crop intensification gradient. In a cashew agriculture-forest matrix of the northern Western Ghats of India, we compared forests, cashew agroforests and cashew monocultures to assess: (1) the magnitude and direction of temporal variation in floral abundance, (2) variation in abundance, diversity and composition of flowers and nectar-feeding birds, (3) diversity of bird-flower interactions, and (4) bird–flower network organization. Floral abundance declined most sharply across time in monocultures, followed by agroforests. The abundance and diversity of nectar-feeding birds peaked in agroforests. Forests had the highest floral diversity and bird-flower interactions. Nectarivore community composition differed across land-use types, with agroforests harboring both forest specialists and open-habitat species typically found in monocultures. We found that sunbirds dominated bird-flower interactions across land-use types. After rarefaction (to control for differences in network size), agroforests and monocultures showed higher connectance, specialization, and modularity than the forest network. Our results suggest that plantations that retain native trees (agroforests) can partially offset the alterations caused in floral resource availability and nectar-feeding bird communities by cashew cultivation. Planting bird-pollinated native trees along orchard edges can make them more suitable for nectar-feeding birds, and has the potential to benefit yield by attracting avian pollinators.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149048073","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":"The Interplay of Fire and Vertical Strata Shaping Herbivorous Insect Communities in Altimontane Forest Islands","authors":"Juliana Kuchenbecker,&nbsp;Flávio Camarota,&nbsp;Pedro Giovâni da Silva,&nbsp;Lucas Neves Perillo,&nbsp;Luiz Eduardo Macedo Reis,&nbsp;Milton Barbosa,&nbsp;Bernardo Puliero,&nbsp;Joaquin Hortal,&nbsp;Frederico Neves","doi":"10.1111/btp.70273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70273","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding how fire and vertical stratification interact to shape insect communities is essential in increasingly fire-prone montane systems. We investigated how herbivorous insect communities vary across vertical strata (canopy and understory) and fire incidence in 14 altitudinal forest islands within the Espinhaço Range, Brazil. Using data collected in 4 years spanning a 7-year period (2014–2020), we analyzed the temporal variation of species richness and abundance, and changes in species composition, gains and losses. Despite greater environmental exposure, canopy communities showed lower temporal variation in richness and abundance than those of the understory, suggesting a buffering effect likely driven by consistent resource availability and host-plant specialization. Fire was not associated with changes in species composition nor species gains, but reduced species losses, particularly in the understory, possibly by favoring generalist species with broad ecological tolerance. Species gains were higher in the canopy, indicating that it may act as a recipient layer for dispersers from the surrounding <i>campo rupestre</i> matrix. Our findings highlight complex, stratum-specific fire effects and suggest that post-disturbance recovery may promote greater differentiation and stability of herbivorous insect communities across forest strata in montane ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70273","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149047902","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":"Spatial Ecology of Jaguars in a Coastal Amazon Island Ecosystem","authors":"Leandro Silveira,&nbsp;Anah T. A. Jácomo,&nbsp;Tiago J. Silveira,&nbsp;Gediendson R. de Araujo,&nbsp;Renato A. Moreira,&nbsp;Francesca B. L. Palmeira,&nbsp;Marcia de A. M. M. Ferraz,&nbsp;Michael J. Noonan","doi":"10.1111/btp.70271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70271","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding the spatial ecology of large carnivores is critical for conservation, particularly in insular or fragmented systems where movement is constrained. Jaguars (<i>Panthera onca</i>) are especially informative because their behavior and diet are highly flexible in response to local ecological conditions. We investigated movement patterns, home-range dynamics, and social interactions of jaguars on Maracá-Jipioca Island, a pair of small, seasonally flooded islands within a low-disturbance reserve in the Brazilian Amazon. Using GPS collars, we tracked seven individuals and found that males maintained substantially larger home ranges (mea<i>n</i> = 77.8 km²) than females (mean = 19.5 km²). Despite the island's limited area, home-range overlap was low and direct encounters were rare, reflecting territorial behavior similar to mainland populations and contrasting with patterns reported for aquatic-prey specialists. Jaguars moved an average of 7.3 km day⁻¹, with no differences across sex, age, or body size. However, movement speed and activity varied strongly among habitats; individuals moved faster in grasslands, wetlands, and water, and more slowly in forests and mangroves, where resting behavior was more frequent. Unlike the predominantly nocturnal activity reported for continental populations, jaguar activity on Maracá-Jipioca peaked during daylight hours, particularly among females. Jaguars preferentially used coastal areas and their distance to the coast was influenced by tidal variation. Together, these findings reveal a combination of conserved and novel behaviors shaped by the island's ecological context, highlighting the behavioral flexibility that enables jaguars to persist in insular Amazonian landscapes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70271","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148994531","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":"Methodological Effects on Plant–Hummingbird Networks: A Comparison of Pollen Load and Focal Observation Approaches in Colombian Andean Ecosystems","authors":"E. Aquiles Gutiérrez-Zamora,&nbsp;Laura E. Nuñez-Rosas","doi":"10.1111/btp.70274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70274","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecological interactions, such as plant–pollinator interactions, are fundamental to maintaining biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem functions. In tropical ecosystems, hummingbirds serve as key pollinators due to their specialized morphological traits, which facilitate plant–pollinator interactions. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for assessing ecosystem stability and biodiversity patterns. Two common approaches to studying plant–hummingbird interactions are focal observations of hummingbird visits to flowers and pollen load analyses from captured hummingbirds. Although these methods capture different aspects of the interaction process (behavioral visitation vs. realized pollen transport), both are widely used to infer plant–pollinator networks. However, because they may detect different subsets of interactions, it remains unclear to what extent they provide comparable representations of network structure and interaction composition. Despite their frequent use, direct comparisons of these methodologies remain scarce, especially in high-altitude ecosystems where hummingbirds are critical pollinators. Fieldwork was conducted in high Andean ecosystems in Colombia. Interactions were recorded through focal observations of hummingbird visits to flowers, complemented with pollen load analyses from captured individuals. To evaluate each method, interaction networks were constructed and compared using network metrics. Pollen load analysis detected higher hummingbird and plant species richness across sites than focal observations. Networks derived from pollen load data exhibited greater connectance and nestedness, while observation-based networks showed higher specialization and modularity. These differences suggest that each method captures different structural properties, with pollen load analysis offering broader coverage of interaction diversity. Pollen load analysis proved more effective at quantifying plant–hummingbird interactions, although both methods provide complementary insights.</p>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/btp.70274","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148994557","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":"Urbanization Drives Community Reorganization, Functional Filtering, and Pest Dominance in Tropical Termites","authors":"Edouard Duquesne,&nbsp;Emilie Gheyle,&nbsp;Yves Roisin,&nbsp;Denis Fournier","doi":"10.1111/btp.70265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70265","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Urbanization is expanding most rapidly in tropical regions, yet its impacts on termites, ecosystem engineers of major ecological and economic importance, remain poorly understood. We combined community surveys and morphological analyses across paired urban and forest habitats in island (Guadeloupe) and continental (Costa Rica) systems to assess how urbanization reshapes termite assemblages and functional traits. Across 20 sites and 1000 quadrats, we quantified community composition, environmental associations, and functional morphology. Forest assemblages showed greater species nestedness, indicative of non-random species loss linked to fragmentation, whereas urban assemblages exhibited higher turnover, reflecting species replacement in heterogeneous, human-modified habitats. Soil-feeding termites were significantly less frequent in Guadeloupean cities, associated with elevated temperatures, reduced soil organic carbon, and lower canopy cover. In Costa Rica, the opportunistic pest <i>Nasutitermes ephratae</i> occurred nearly twice as often in urban areas, which is concerning given its similarity to <i>Nasutitermes corniger</i>, an already established pest. This highlights cities as potential bridgeheads for emerging invasions and pathways for introduction via trade. Morphological analyses revealed habitat-associated trait shifts in opportunistic species: urban <i>Nasutitermes</i> populations exhibited reduced body size traits, including pronotum width, femur length, and mandibular indices, consistent with the temperature-size rule and urban heat island effects. These findings indicate that tropical urbanization does not simply reduce termite diversity but reorganizes communities, favors pest-prone species, and induces functional trait shifts that may enhance invasion risk. By integrating community and morphological data across contrasting biogeographic contexts, this study highlights the need to incorporate biodiversity conservation, evolutionary responses, and biosecurity considerations into urban ecology.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":8982,"journal":{"name":"Biotropica","volume":"58 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148994492","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}