Journal
INSECT SCIENCE
Volume 22, Issue 1, Pages 129-138Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12107
Keywords
area loss; Chaco Serrano; edge effect; forest arthropods; functional groups; habitat fragmentation
Categories
Funding
- CONICET
- SECYT
- MINCYT
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Loss and fragmentation of natural ecosystems are widely recognized as the most important threats to biodiversity conservation, with Neotropical dry forests among the most endangered ecosystems. Area and edge effects are major factors in fragmented landscapes. Here, we examine area and edge effects and their interaction, on ensembles of arthropods associated to native vegetation in a fragmented Chaco Serrano forest. We analyzed family richness and community composition of herbivores, predators, and parasitoids on three native plant species in 12 fragments of varying size and at edge/interior positions. We also looked for indicator families by using Indicator Species Analysis. Loss of family richness with the reduction of forest fragment area was observed for the three functional groups, with similar magnitude. Herbivores were richer at the edges without interaction between edge and area effects, whereas predators were not affected by edge/interior position and parasitoid richness showed an interaction between area and position, with a steeper area slope at the edges. Family composition of herbivore, predator, and parasitoid assemblages was also affected by forest area and/or edge/interior situation. We found three indicator families for large remnants and five for edges. Our results support the key role of forest area for conservation of arthropods taxonomic and functional diversity in a highly threatened region, and emphasize the need to understand the interactions between area and edge effects on such diversity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available