Variation in a Darwin Wasp (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) Community along an Elevation Gradient in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot: Implications for Ecology and Conservation

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 14; no. 11; p. 861
• Main Authors: Flinte, Vivian, Pádua, Diego G., Durand, Emily M., Hodgin, Caitlin, Khattar, Gabriel, da Silveira, Luiz Felipe L., Fernandes, Daniell R. R., Sääksjärvi, Ilari E., Monteiro, Ricardo F., Macedo, Margarete V., Mayhew, Peter J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-11-2023
• Subjects: Altitude; altitudinal richness gradient; Arthropods; Bamboo; Biodiversity; Biodiversity hot spots; Biodiversity loss; Biological diversity conservation; Biological research; Biology, Experimental; Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest; Community composition; Conservation; conservation strategy; Deforestation; Distribution; Ecology; Ecosystems; Elevation; Endangered & extinct species; Epiphytes; Forecasts and trends; Forests; High altitude; Hymenoptera; Ichneumonidae; Insects; Invertebrates; latitudinal richness gradient; Lianas; Midaltitude; Mountain ecology; Mountains; National parks; parasitoid wasp community; Protection and preservation; Rainforests; Spatial variations; Species diversity; Species richness; Taxonomy; Tropical environment; Tropical environments; Tropical forests; tropical insect diversity; United Kingdom; Vegetation; Vertebrates; Wasps; Wildlife conservation; United Kingdom; Brazil; Atlantic Forest
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects14110861

Understanding how biodiversity varies from place to place is a fundamental goal of ecology and an important tool for halting biodiversity loss. Parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera) are a diverse and functionally important animal group, but spatial variation in their diversity is poorly understood. We survey a community of parasitic wasps (Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae) using Malaise traps up a mountain in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, and relate the catch to biotic and abiotic habitat characteristics. We find high species richness compared with previous similar studies, with abundance, richness, and diversity peaking at low to intermediate elevation. There is a marked change in community composition with elevation. Habitat factors strongly correlated with elevation also strongly predict changes in the pimpline community, including temperature as well as the density of bamboo, lianas, epiphytes, small trees, and herbs. These results identify several possible surrogates of pimpline communities in tropical forests, which could be used as a tool in conservation. They also contribute to the growing evidence for a typical latitudinal gradient in ichneumonid species richness, and suggest that low to medium elevations in tropical regions will sometimes conserve the greatest number of species locally, but to conserve maximal biodiversity, a wider range of elevations should also be targeted.