PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 30: Invertebrate Ecology
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Effect of the habitat size on the invertebrate community richness associated to Muhlenbergia robusta in a xeric community in central Mexico.
López-Gómez, Víctor*,1, Cano-Santana, Zenón*,1, 1 Departamento de Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México city, D.F., México
ABSTRACT- The bunch form of M. robusta creates a physical isolation with its environment, for this we consider the plant like an insular habitat that will accomplish the relationship species-area of MacArthur and Wilson. M. robusta is a tall fodder grass that prevails in a xeric community in central Mexico. We determined the richness, the abundance, the diversity and the biomass of the invertebrates associated to M. robusta under two different light environments (open and shade). We found direct and significative relationships between the size of the plant and the community attributes mentioned before. We found many taxa such as the Arenae, Escorpionida, Pseudoescorpionida, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Blattaria, Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Thysanoptera, Isoptera and Gasteropoda.
Key words: species-area relationship, invertebrates, insular plants, xeric community