Insect diversity across an afro-tropical forest biodiversity hotspot

Insect diversity across an afro-tropical forest biodiversity hotspot

Tropical forests host a remarkable proportion of global arthropod diversity. Yet, arthropod communities living in tropical forests are still poorly studied, particularly for dry forests of Eastern Africa. The aim of this study was to analyse community structures, species richness and relative abunda...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect conservation Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 221 - 228
Main Authors: Habel, Jan Christian, Koc, Elisabeth, Gerstmeier, Roland, Gruppe, Axel, Seibold, Sebastian, Ulrich, Werner
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-04-2021
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Abundance
Animal Ecology
Arthropoda
Arthropods
Beetles
Biodiversity
Biodiversity hot spots
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Community composition
Composition
Conservation Biology/Ecology
Dry forests
Entomology
Forests
Guilds
Heterogeneity
Insects
Life Sciences
Light traps
Mixed forests
Original Paper
Relative abundance
Species classification
Species richness
Taxonomy
Tropical forests
Biodiversity hotspot
Habitat structure
Canopy
Relative abundance
Arthropods
Forest conservation
Tropical forest
Guilds
Species assemblies
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Tropical forests host a remarkable proportion of global arthropod diversity. Yet, arthropod communities living in tropical forests are still poorly studied, particularly for dry forests of Eastern Africa. The aim of this study was to analyse community structures, species richness and relative abundances of insects across a heterogeneous forest consisting of various forest types. We collected insects in the lower canopies with light traps across the Arabuko Sokoke forest, part of the East African coastal forest biodiversity hotspot in southeast Kenya. Sampling was conducted across three forest types and along the forest edge. In total we collected > 250,000 individuals. We grouped these individuals into orders, and beetles into (sub)families. Representatives of the taxonomically well-known beetle families Cerambycidae, Tenebrionidae and Scolytinae were further determined to species level. We subsequently classified these groups into guilds according to their ecological requirements and life-histories. Relative abundances of arthropods strongly differed among taxonomic groups and forest types. Evenness was highest in the heterogeneous natural Brachystegia forest type. The mixed forest type and the forest edges showed intermediate degrees of evenness, while the structurally homogenous Cynometra forest showed comparatively low degrees of evenness. Implications for insect conservation We found that taxonomic and guild compositions strongly differed among the forest types. Our findings reveal that structural heterogeneity of a forest is the major driver of insect diversity, community composition, and relative abundance. Our study underlines that the preservation of all three forest types is crucial to maintain the complete diversity of arthropods across all taxonomic groups.
ISSN:1366-638X
1572-9753
DOI:10.1007/s10841-021-00293-z