PARENT SESSION
Poster Session # 19: Insect and Invertebrate Ecology.
Thursday, August 7 Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. SITCC Exhibit Hall B.
Diversity of phytotelm fauna along a deforestation gradient in the Peruvian Amazon.
Yanoviak, Stephen*,1, 2, Lounibos, L1, Weaver, S2, Tesh, R2, 1 University of Florida, Vero Beach, Florida2 University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
ABSTRACT- Deforestation potentially alters the distribution and abundance of phytotelmata and their resident fauna. We surveyed phytotelm habitats along a deforestation gradient near Iquitos, Peru, as part of a larger study of arbovirus ecology. Mean phytotelm density was greater in cultivated areas ("chacra"; 174 ± 33 SD per hectare) than in secondary forest ("purma"; 28 ± 36) and primary forest ("bosque"; 25 ± 17). Fallen leaves and plant axils were the most abundant microhabitats present at all sites. Half (47%) of the colonizable microhabitats contained macroinvertebrates and mosquitoes were the most abundant occupants. In addition to the microhabitat survey, replicated phytotelm analogs (water-filled bamboo sections) were placed along the gradient and destructively sampled every two weeks. Mean species richness (ca. 3 per bamboo) and abundance (ca. 50) were similar among chacra, purma and bosque. Trichoprosopon digitatum was the most abundant macroinvertebrate in the bamboo sections across all sites. However, species composition of top predators differed, with Toxorhynchites spp. occurring more often in chacra and odonates exclusively inhabiting bosque. These differences may have cascading effects on the abundance and composition of mosquito prey along the deforestation gradient.
Key words: tropics, deforestation, phytotelmata, mosquitoes