Abstract
We characterized a plant-caterpillar food web from secondary vegetation in a New Guinean rain forest that included 63 plant species (87.5% of the total basal area), 546 Lepidoptera species and 1679 trophic links between them. The strongest 14 associations involved 50% of all individual caterpillars while some links were extremely rare. A caterpillar randomly picked from the vegetation will, with ≥ 50% probability, (1) feed on one to three host plants (of the 63 studied), (2) feed on < 20% of local plant biomass and (3) have ≥ 90% of population concentrated on a single host plant species. Generalist species were quantitatively unimportant. Caterpillar assemblages on locally monotypic plant genera were distinct, while sympatric congeneric hosts shared many caterpillar species. The partitioning of the plant-caterpillar food web thus depends on the composition of the vegetation. In secondary forest the predominant plant genera were locally monotypic and supported locally isolated caterpillar assemblages.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1090-1100 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Ecology letters |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2004 |
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Keywords
- Ecological succession
- Herbivore communities
- Host specificity
- Insect-plant interactions
- Invasive species
- Lepidoptera
- Malesia
- Papua New Guinea
- Species richness
- Tropical forests
Cite this
No tree an island : The plant-caterpillar food web of a secondary rain forest in New Guinea. / Novotny, Vojtech; Miller, Scott E.; Leps, Jan; Basset, Yves; Bito, Darren; Janda, Milan; Hulcr, Jiri; Damas, Kipiro; Weiblen, George D.
In: Ecology letters, Vol. 7, No. 11, 01.11.2004, p. 1090-1100.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - No tree an island
T2 - The plant-caterpillar food web of a secondary rain forest in New Guinea
AU - Novotny, Vojtech
AU - Miller, Scott E.
AU - Leps, Jan
AU - Basset, Yves
AU - Bito, Darren
AU - Janda, Milan
AU - Hulcr, Jiri
AU - Damas, Kipiro
AU - Weiblen, George D.
PY - 2004/11/1
Y1 - 2004/11/1
N2 - We characterized a plant-caterpillar food web from secondary vegetation in a New Guinean rain forest that included 63 plant species (87.5% of the total basal area), 546 Lepidoptera species and 1679 trophic links between them. The strongest 14 associations involved 50% of all individual caterpillars while some links were extremely rare. A caterpillar randomly picked from the vegetation will, with ≥ 50% probability, (1) feed on one to three host plants (of the 63 studied), (2) feed on < 20% of local plant biomass and (3) have ≥ 90% of population concentrated on a single host plant species. Generalist species were quantitatively unimportant. Caterpillar assemblages on locally monotypic plant genera were distinct, while sympatric congeneric hosts shared many caterpillar species. The partitioning of the plant-caterpillar food web thus depends on the composition of the vegetation. In secondary forest the predominant plant genera were locally monotypic and supported locally isolated caterpillar assemblages.
AB - We characterized a plant-caterpillar food web from secondary vegetation in a New Guinean rain forest that included 63 plant species (87.5% of the total basal area), 546 Lepidoptera species and 1679 trophic links between them. The strongest 14 associations involved 50% of all individual caterpillars while some links were extremely rare. A caterpillar randomly picked from the vegetation will, with ≥ 50% probability, (1) feed on one to three host plants (of the 63 studied), (2) feed on < 20% of local plant biomass and (3) have ≥ 90% of population concentrated on a single host plant species. Generalist species were quantitatively unimportant. Caterpillar assemblages on locally monotypic plant genera were distinct, while sympatric congeneric hosts shared many caterpillar species. The partitioning of the plant-caterpillar food web thus depends on the composition of the vegetation. In secondary forest the predominant plant genera were locally monotypic and supported locally isolated caterpillar assemblages.
KW - Ecological succession
KW - Herbivore communities
KW - Host specificity
KW - Insect-plant interactions
KW - Invasive species
KW - Lepidoptera
KW - Malesia
KW - Papua New Guinea
KW - Species richness
KW - Tropical forests
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=7044222549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=7044222549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00666.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00666.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:7044222549
VL - 7
SP - 1090
EP - 1100
JO - Ecology Letters
JF - Ecology Letters
SN - 1461-023X
IS - 11
ER -