Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Moving beyond Phenology:New Directions in the Study of Temporal Dynamics of Tropical Insect Communities


Affiliations
1 IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram 695 016, India
 

Understanding of temporal dynamics of tropical insect communities is hampered by the difficulty of disentangling population dynamics, timed phenology, migration and seasonal activity. Furthermore, there is a dearth of data on potential drivers of temporal dynamics, and on its consequences for ecosystem functioning. This article argues for collection of complementary data, and makes methodological recommendations.

Keywords

Activity, Climate, Longevity, Migration, Phenology, Phenotypic Plasticity, Population Dynamics.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Dao, A. et al., Signatures of aestivation and migration in sahelian malaria mosquito populations. Nature, 2014, 516, 387–390.

  • Tauber, M. J., Tauber, C. A. and Masaki, S., Seasonal Adaptations of Insects, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, 1986.

  • Wolda, H., Seasonal cues in tropical organisms: rainfall? Not necessarily! Oecologia, 1989, 80, 437–442.

  • Torres, C., Osorio-Beristain, M., Mariano, N. A. and Legal, L., Sex-dependent seasonal feeding activity variations among two species of Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera) in the Mexican tropical dry forest. Ann. Soc. Entomol. France, 2009, 45(3), 265–274.

  • Van Bael, S. A., Aiello, A., Valderrama, A., Medianero, E., Samaniego, M. and Wriglit, S. J., General herbivore outbreak following an El Nino-related drought in a lowland Panamanian forest. J. Trop. Ecol., 2004, 20, 1–9.

  • Molleman, F., Remmel, T. and Sam, K., Phenology of predation on insects in a tropical forest: temporal variation in damage to dummy caterpillars. Biotropica, 2016, 48, 229–236.

  • Azerefegne, F., Solbreck, C. and Ives, A. R., Environmental forcing and high amplitude fluctuations in the population dynamics of the tropical butterfly Acraea acerata (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). J. Anim. Ecol., 2001, 70, 1032–1045.

  • Larsen, T. B., Butterflies of West Africa. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark, Vols 1–2, 2005.

  • Zar, J. H., Biostatistical Analysis, Prentice Hall, Bergen, Norway, 1999.

  • Valtonen, A., Molleman, F., Chapman, C. A., Carey, J. C., Ayres M. P. and Roininen, H., Tropical phenology: bi-annual rhythms and interannual variation in an Afrotropical butterfly assemblage. Ecosphere, 2013, 4, 1–38.

  • Molleman, F., Zwaan, B. J., Brakefield, P. M. and Carey, J. R., Extraordinary long life spans in fruit-feeding butterflies can provide window on evolution of life span and aging. Exp. Gerontol., 2007, 42, 472–482.

  • Mutshinda, C. M., O’Hara, R. B. and Woiwod, I. P., What drives community dynamics? Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci., 2009, 276, 2923–2929.

  • Wang, S. P. and Loreau, M., Ecosystem stability in space: alpha, beta and gamma variability. Ecol. Lett., 2014, 17, 891–901.

  • Grotan, V., Lande, R., Engen, S., Sæther, B. E. and DeVries, P. J., Seasonal cycles of species diversity and similarity in a tropical butterfly community. J. Anim. Ecol., 2012, 81, 714–723.

  • Hrcek, J., Miller, S. E., Whitfield, J. B., Shima, H. and Novotny, V., Parasitism rate, parasitoid community composition and host specificity on exposed and semi-concealed caterpillars from a tropical rainforest. Oecologia, 2013, 173, 521–532.

  • Smith, M. A., Rodriguez, J. J., Whitfield, J. B., Deans, A. R., Janzen, D. H., Hallwachs, W. and Hebert, P. D. N., Extreme diversity of tropical parasitoid wasps exposed by iterative integration of natural history, DNA barcoding, morphology, and collections. PNAS, 2008, 105, 12359–12364.

  • Molleman, F., Grunsven, R. H. A., Liefting, M., Zwaan, B. J. and Brakefield P. M., Is male puddling behaviour of tropical butterflies targeted at sodium for nuptial gifts or activity? Biol. J. Linnean Soc., 2005, 86, 345–361.

  • Dawson, T. P., Jackson, S. T., House, J. I., Prentice, I. C. and Mace, G. M., Beyond predictions: biodiversity conservation in a changing climate. Science, 2011, 332, 53–58.

  • Ribeiro, D. B. and Freitas A. V. L., Large-sized insects show stronger seasonality than small-sized ones: a case study of fruitfeeding butterflies. Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 2011, 104, 820–827.

  • Wilson, E. O., The little things that run the world (the importance and conservation of invertebrates). Conserv. Biol., 1987, 1, 344–346.

  • Bawa, K. S. P., Plant-pollinator interactions in tropical rain forests. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 1990, 21, 399–422.

  • Simon, J. G., Saproxylic insect ecology and the sustainable management of forests. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 2002, 33, 1–23.

  • Tvardikova, K. and Novotny, V., Predation on exposed and leaf-rolling artificial caterpillars in tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. J. Trop. Ecol., 2012, 28, 331–341.

  • Ewers, R. M. et al., Logging cuts the functional importance of invertebrates in tropical rainforest. 2015, Nature Commun., 6.

  • Brakefield, P. M. and Larsen, T. B., The evolutionary significance of dry and wet season forms in some tropical butterflies. Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 1984, 22, 1–12.

  • Brakefield, P. M. and Reitsma, N., Phenotypic plasticity, seasonal climate and the population biology of Bicyclus butterflies (Satyridae) in Malawi. Ecol. Entomol., 1991, 16, 291–303.

  • Tiple, A., Agashe, D., Khurad, A. M. and Kunte, K., Population dynamics and seasonal polyphenism of Chilades pandava butterfly (Lycaenidae) in Central India. Curr. Sci., 2009, 97, 1774–1779.

  • van Bergen, E., Barlow, H. S., Brattström, O., Griffiths, H., Kodandaramaiah, U., Osborne, C. P. and Brakefield, P. M., The stable isotope ecology of mycalesine butterflies: implications for plant–insect co-evolution. Funct. Ecol., 2016, 30, 1936–1946.

  • Le Rouzic, A., Hansen, T. F., Gosden, T. P. and Svensson, E. L., Evolutionary time-series analysis reveals the signature of frequency-dependent selection on a female mating polymorphism. Am. Nat., 2015, 185, e182–e196.

  • Long, E., Edwards, K. F. and Shapiro, A. M., A test of fundamental questions in mimicry theory using long-term datasets. Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 2015, 116, 487–494.

  • Aduse-Poku, K., William, O., Oppong, S. K., Larsen, T., Ofori-Boateng, C. and Molleman, F., Spatial and temporal variation in butterfly biodiversity in a West-African forest; lessons for establishing efficient rapid monitoring programmes. Afr. J. Ecol., 2012, 50, 326–334.

  • DeVries, P. J., Austin, G. T. and Martin, N. H., Estimating species diversity in a guild of neotropical skippers (lepidoptera: hesperiidae) with artificial lures is a sampling problem. Insect Conserv. Diver., 2009, 2, 125–134.

  • Grotan, V., Lande, R., Chacon, I. A. and DeVries, P. J., Seasonal cycles of diversity and similarity in a Central American rainforest butterfly community. Ecography, 2014, 37, 509–516.

  • Kishimoto-Yamada, K. and Itioka, K., How much have we learned about seasonality in tropical insect abundance since Wolda (1988)? Entomol. Sci., 2015, 18, 407–419.

  • Wolda, H., Fluctuations in abundance of tropical insects. Am. Nat., 1978, 112, 1017–1045.

  • DeVries, P. J., Hamm, C. A. and Fordyce, J. A., A standardized sampling protocol for fruit-feeding butterflies (nymphalidae). In Core Standardized Methods for Rapid Biological Field Assessment (ed. Larsen, T. H.), Conservation International, Arlington, VA, 2016.

  • Basset, Y. et al., Arthropod distribution in a tropical rainforest: tackling a four dimensional puzzle. PLoS ONE, 2015, 10(12), e0144110.

  • Fordyce, J. A. and DeVries, P. J., A tale of two communities: Neotropical butterfly assemblages show higher beta diversity in the canopy compared to the understorey. Oecologia, 2016, 181, 235–243.

  • Molleman, F., Kop, A., Brakefield, P. M., DeVries, P. J. and Zwaan, B. J., Vertical and temporal patterns of biodiversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a tropical forest in Uganda. Biodiver. Conserv., 2006, 15, 107–121.

  • Hill, J., Hamer, K., Tangah, J. and Dawood, M., Ecology of tropical butterflies in rainforest gaps. Oecologia, 2001, 128, 294–302.

  • Basset, Y., Novotny, V., Miller, S. E., Weiblen, G. D., Missa, O. and Stewart, A. J., Conservation and biological monitoring of tropical forests: the role of parataxonomists. J. Appl. Ecol., 2004, 41, 163–174.


Abstract Views: 278

PDF Views: 77




  • Moving beyond Phenology:New Directions in the Study of Temporal Dynamics of Tropical Insect Communities

Abstract Views: 278  |  PDF Views: 77

Authors

Freerk Molleman
IISER-TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram 695 016, India

Abstract


Understanding of temporal dynamics of tropical insect communities is hampered by the difficulty of disentangling population dynamics, timed phenology, migration and seasonal activity. Furthermore, there is a dearth of data on potential drivers of temporal dynamics, and on its consequences for ecosystem functioning. This article argues for collection of complementary data, and makes methodological recommendations.

Keywords


Activity, Climate, Longevity, Migration, Phenology, Phenotypic Plasticity, Population Dynamics.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi05%2F982-986