The successional pathway of the tree community and how it shapes the fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Afrotropical forest
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Tropical Ecology
Abstract
The relative importance of different bottom-up-mediated effects in shaping insect communities in tropical
secondary forests are poorly understood. Here, we explore the roles of vegetation structure, forest age, local topography
(valley vs. hill top) and soil variables in predicting fruit-feeding butterfly and tree community composition, and
tree community composition in predicting fruit-feeding butterfly community composition, in different-aged naturally
regenerating and primary forests ofKibaleNational Park, Uganda.Wealso examinewhich variables are best predictors
of fruit-feeding butterfly species richness or diversity. Butterflies (88 species) were sampled with a banana-baited trap
and trees (98 taxa) with a 40 × 20-m sampling plot at 80 sampling sites. The environmental variables explained 31%
of the variation in the tree community composition, the best predictors being local topography, forest age and cover
of Acanthus pubescens (a shrub possibly arresting succession). The fruit-feeding butterfly community composition was
better predicted by tree community composition (explaining 10% of the variation) rather than vegetation structure,
local topography or soil factors. Environmental variables and tree species richness (or diversity) were poor predictors
of butterfly species richness (or diversity). Our results emphasize the importance of tree community to recovery of
herbivorous insect communities in tropical secondary forests.
Description
Keywords
Community composition, Diversity, Forest regeneration, Lepidoptera, Secondary forest
Citation
Valtonen, A., Malinga, G. M., Nyafwono, M., Nyeko, P., Owiny, A., & Roininen, H. (2017). The successional pathway of the tree community and how it shapes the fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Afrotropical forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 33(1), 12-21. doi:10.1017/S0266467416000560