Eur. J. Entomol. 101 (2): 251-259, 2004 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2004.035

Host specificity or habitat structure? - The epicortical beetle assemblages in an Australian subtropical rainforest

Florian MENZEL1,2, Roger L. KITCHING1, Sarah L. BOULTER1
1 Australian School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4207, Australia
2 Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum Am Hubland, Julius-Maximilian's University, 97074 Würzburg, Germany

We have investigated the relative importance of bark roughness and host tree species in determining the diversity and make-up of coleopteran assemblages on the trunks of trees in sub-tropical rainforest in south-east Queensland, Australia. There are clear, statistically significant, patterns in the composition of the assemblages which reflect bark roughness. Rougher bark had associated greater species and family richness, a higher proportion of "rare" species, a higher value for Shannon diversity and lower values for the Simpson and Berger-Parker Index (measures of dominance within the sample). The data support strongly the idea that there is a bark-specific beetle assemblage. The rougher bark was associated with significantly greater numbers of an anobiid species, Dorcatoma sp., and of the latridiid species Aridius australicus. Rougher bark also harboured significantly larger species. The most likely explanation for this seems to be related to the physical heterogeneity and biological complexity of the habitat, presenting, as it does, greater opportunities for shelter, feeding specialisation and intra-species aggregation. Rougher bark contained a higher proportion of both predatory and xylophagous groups than did smoother categories. No clear influence of tree species could be detected although some trends were evident.

Keywords: Coleoptera, alpha diversity, bark, rainforest, Australia

Received: September 9, 2003; Revised: March 18, 2004; Accepted: March 23, 2004; Published: June 25, 2004  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
MENZEL, F., KITCHING, R.L., & BOULTER, S.L. (2004). Host specificity or habitat structure? - The epicortical beetle assemblages in an Australian subtropical rainforest. EJE, 101(2), 251-259. doi: 10.14411/eje.2004.035
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Andre H.M. 1983: Notes on the ecology of corticolous epiphyte dwellers. 2. Collembola. Pedobiologia 25: 271-278 Go to original source...
    2. Andre H.M. 1984: Notes on the ecology of corticolous epiphyte dwellers. 3. Oribatida. Acarologia 25: 385-395
    3. Baehr M. 1990: The carabid community living under the bark of Australian eucalypts. In Stork N.E. (ed.): The Role of Ground Beetles in Ecological and Environmental Studies. Intercept Press, Andover, pp. 3-11
    4. Basset Y. 1984: Contribution a la connaissance des peuplements sur Pinus mugo Turra dans les tourbieres du Haut Jura Neuchatelois. Travail de Licence, Institut de Zoologie, Universite de Neuchatel, 205 pp
    5. Basset Y., Hammond P.M., Barrois H., Holloway J.D. & Miller S.E. 2003: Vertical stratification of arthropod assemblages. In Basset Y., Novotny V., Miller S.E. & Kitching R.L. (eds): Arthropods of Tropical Forests: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Resource Use in the Canopy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 17-27
    6. Belbin L. 1995: PATN: Community Pattern Analysis Package. CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, Canberra, 234 pp
    7. Braak C.J.F. Ter 1995: Ordination. In Jongman R.H.G, Braak C.J.F. Ter & van Tongeren O.F.R. (eds): Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 91-173 Go to original source...
    8. Broadhead E. & Thornton I.W.B. 1955: An ecological study of three closely related psocid species. Oikos 6: 1-50 Go to original source...
    9. Brown D.A.H. 1993: The Effects of Host Tree Species, Bark Type and Microepiphyte Cover on the Distribution and Abundance of Arthropod Taxa and Macroguilds on Tree Trunks in a Subtropical Forest. BSc Honours Thesis, Griffith University, Brisbane, 70 pp
    10. Colwell R.K. 1997: EstimateS: Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples. Version 5. User's Guide and application, http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu./estimates Didham R.K. & Springate N.D. 2003: Determinants of temporal variation in community structure. In Basset Y., Novotny V., Miller S.E. & Kitching R.L. (eds): Arthropods of Tropical Forests: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Resource Use in the Canopy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 28-39
    11. Elton C.S. 1966: The Pattern of Animal Communities. Methuen, London, 432 pp
    12. Erwin T.L. 1982: Tropical forests: their richness in Coleoptera and other arthropod species. Coleopt. Bull. 36: 74-75
    13. Erwin T.L. 1991: How many species are there: revisited. Conserv. Biodiv. 5: 330-333 Go to original source...
    14. Floren A. & Linsenmair K.E. 2003: How do beetle assemblages respond to anthropogenic disturbance? In Basset Y., Novotny V., Miller S.E. & Kitching R.L. (eds): Arthropods of Tropical Forests: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Resource Use in the Canopy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 190-197
    15. Garrison R.W. & Willig M.R. 1996: Arboreal Invertebrates. In Reagan D.P. & Waide R.B. (eds): The Food Web of a Tropical Rain Forest. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 183-245
    16. Gotelli N.J. & Colwell R.K. 2001: Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol. Lett. 4: 379-391 Go to original source...
    17. Hammond P.M. 1995: Magnitude and distribution of biodiversity. In Heywood V.T. & Watson R.T. (eds): Global Biodiversity Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 113-138
    18. Hammond P.M., Kitching R.L. & Stork N.E. 1997: The composition and richness of the tree-crown Coleoptera assemblage in an Australian subtropical forest. Ecotropica 2: 99-108
    19. Kitching R.L., Mitchell H., Morse G. & Thebaud C. 1997: Determinants of species richness in assemblages of canopy arthropods in rainforests. In Stork N., Didham R. & Adis J. (eds): Canopy Arthropods. Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 131-150
    20. Kitching R.L., Vickerman G., Laidlaw M. & Hurley K. 2000: The Comparative Assessment of Arthropod and Tree Biodiversity in Old-World Forests: the Rainforest CRC/EARTHWATCH Protocol Manual. Technical Report, Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, Cairns, 70 pp
    21. Kitching R.L., Li D.Q. & Stork N.E. 2001: Assessing biodiversity "sampling packages": how similar are arthropod assemblages in different tropical rainforests? Biodiv. Conserv. 10: 793-813 Go to original source...
    22. Krell F.-T. 2004: Parataxonomy vs taxonomy in biodiversity studies - pitfalls and applicability of "morphospecies" sorting. Biodiv. Conserv. 13: 795-812 Go to original source...
    23. Laidlaw M., Olsen M., Kitching R.L. & Greenway M. 2000: Tree floristic and structural characteristics of one hectare of subtropical rainforest in Lamington National Park, Queensland. Proc. R. Soc. Queensl. 109: 91-105
    24. Lawrence J.F. & Britton E.B. 1991: Coleoptera (Beetles) In Naumann I. (ed.): Insects of Australia. Vol. 2. CSIRO, Melbourne, pp. 543-683
    25. Levins R. 1968: Evolution in Changing Environments, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 120 pp Go to original source...
    26. Magurran A.E. 1988: Ecological Diversity and its Measurement, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 179 pp Go to original source...
    27. Majer J.D., Recher H.F., Graham R. & Gupta R. 2003: Trunk invertebrate faunas of Western Australian forests and woodlands: influence of tree species and season. Aust. Ecol. 28: 629-641 Go to original source...
    28. May R.M. 1992: How many species inhabit the Earth. Scient. Am. 267: 42-48 Go to original source...
    29. McDonald W.J.F. & Whiteman W.G. 1979: Moreton Region Vegetation Map Series: Explanatory Booklet for Murwillumbah Sheet, Botany Branch, Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane, 58 pp
    30. New T.R. 1970: The relative abundance of some British Psocoptera on different species of trees. J. Anim. Ecol. 39: 521-540 Go to original source...
    31. Novotny V., Basset Y., Miller S.E., Weiblen G.D., Bremer B., Eizek L. & Drozd P. 2002: Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest. Nature 416: 841-888 Go to original source...
    32. Novotny V., Basset Y. & Kitching R.L. 2003: Herbivore assemblages and their food resources. In Basset Y., Novotny V., Miller S.E. & Kitching R.L. (eds): Arthropods of Tropical Forests: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Resource Use in the Canopy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 40-53
    33. Odegaard F. 2000: How many species of arthropods? Erwin's estimate revisited. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 71: 583-597 Go to original source...
    34. Proctor H., Montgomery K., Rosen K. & Kitching R.L. 2002: Are tree trunks habitats or highways? A comparison of oribatid mite assemblages from hoop-pine bark and litter. Aust. J. Entomol. 41: 294-299 Go to original source...
    35. Rodgers D.J. & Kitching R.L. 1998: Vertical stratification of rainforest collembolan (Collembola: Insecta) assemblages: description of ecological patterns and hypotheses concerning their generation. Ecography 21: 392-400 Go to original source...
    36. Stork N.E. 1987: Arthropod faunal similarity of Bornean rain forest trees. Ecol. Entomol. 12: 219-226 Go to original source...
    37. Stork N.E. 1988: Insect diversity: facts, fiction and speculation. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 35: 321-337 Go to original source...
    38. Walter D.E., Seeman O., Rodgers D. & Kitching R.L. 1998: Mites in a mist: microhabitat distribution complementarity and body size distribution of Acari from a subtropical rainforest. Aust. J. Ecol. 23: 501-508 Go to original source...
    39. Watanabe H. 1997: Estimation of arboreal and terrestrial arthropod densities in the forest canopy as measured by insecticide smoking. In Stork N., Didham R. & Adis J. (eds): Canopy Arthropods. Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 401-414
    40. Webb L.J., Tracey J.G. & Williams W.T. 1984: A floristic framework of Australian rainforests. Aust. J. Ecol. 9: 169-198 Go to original source...
    41. Wilson E.O. 1992: The Diversity of Life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 424 pp

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content