Seasonal patterns of lowland forest floor arthropod abundance in southeastern Peru
Biotropica
1986
Journal Article
18
3
244-256
Explorer's Inn animals invertebrates arthropods leaf litter inventories animal biomass seasonality long-term monitoring ecology small spatial scales climate habitat heterogeneity bamboo plants grasses Poaceae Guadua Madre de Dios Bibliography
A two-year study with semi-monthly collections of forest floor arthropods and periodic monitoring of temperature, relative humidity and soil moisture for three habitats of different soil drainage (terra firme, bamboo and flood plain) was conducted at the TRZ. Several diurnal and seasonal patterns of arthropod biomass ocurred. All habitats followed parallel and coincident profiles of arthropod biomass through the four major seasons covered by this study (two years of wet and dry seasons). Biomass in wet seasons was greater than biomass in dry seasons. The strongest association between arthropod biomass and environmental measures ocurred with the contemporary measurement of maximum temperature, but only two habitats, terra firme and bamboo, showed this association. The flood plain habitat showed no detectable associations between arthropod biomass and short term environmental measures. The total number of individual arthropods trapped over the two years was highest for the bamboo habitat and lowest for the flood plain. The smallest overall mean individual mass was in the bamboo habitat, and the highest was in the flood plain. The seasonal change in this mean individual mass value was regular for the flood plain, less regular for the bamboo habitat and irregular for the terra firme forest. Of all the higher arthropod taxa trapped, the Coleoptera and to a lesser extent the Collembola, exhibited consistent and distinct seasonal patterns. Other taxa such as ants, Diptera and Orthoptera either showed seasonal patterns in one forest type or none at all.