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Abundance of gall-inducing insect species in sclerophyllous savanna: understanding the importance of soil fertility using an experimental approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2011

Pablo Cuevas-Reyes ,
Fabricio T. De Oliveira-Ker ,
Geraldo Wilson Fernandes  and
Mercedes Bustamante
Pablo Cuevas-Reyes*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología de Interacciones Bióticas, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria, Morelia, Michoacán, México, C. P. 58060 Ecologia Evolutiva & Biodiversidade/DBG, C P 486, ICB/Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270 901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Fabricio T. De Oliveira-Ker
Affiliation:
Ecologia Evolutiva & Biodiversidade/DBG, C P 486, ICB/Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270 901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Geraldo Wilson Fernandes
Affiliation:
Ecologia Evolutiva & Biodiversidade/DBG, C P 486, ICB/Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270 901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Mercedes Bustamante
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília DF, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: pcuevas@oikos.unam.mx
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Abstract:

Although many studies have now demonstrated that both richness and abundance of gall-inducing insect species are directly and indirectly (via the host plant) influenced by soil quality, the empirical evaluation of it in the field remains anecdotal at best. The effects of soil fertility on richness and abundance of gall-inducing insects associated with a widespread savanna species, Eremanthus glomerulatus, were evaluated under experimental field conditions in Brasilia, central Brazil. The effect of soil fertility on gall-inducing insects species richness was evaluated using three treatments: (1) plots fertilized with nitrogen; (2) plots fertilized with phosphorus; and (3) control plots: soils without fertilization. Species richness of gall-inducing insects (six species of Cecidomyiidae) did not differ among the treatments. Leaves with galls had higher nitrogen concentrations (mean = 15.0 ± 0.5 mg g−1), compared with leaves without galls (mean = 9.0 ± 0.7 mg g−1) on plants that occurred in soils with addition of nitrogen. Similarly, leaves with galls had higher foliar phosphorus concentration (mean = 1.0 ± 0.04 mg g−1) than leaves without galls (mean = 0.6 ± 0.05 mg g−1) in plots with addition of phosphorus. In galled leaves, a negative relationship between gall density and nitrogen concentration was found for one gall-inducing insect species, while three species showed a positive relationship between gall density and leaf nitrogen concentration. A negative relationship between gall density and concentration of leaf phosphorus was observed for four of the six gall-inducing insect species studied. No relationship was found between gall density and leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in ungalled leaves. We argue that foliar nitrogen and phosphorus concentration respond to gall density in galled leaves and therefore, gall-inducing insect species are capable of manipulating their host plant, modifying the foliar nutrients of E. glomerulatus in sclerophyllous savanna.

Keywords

Eremanthus glomerulatusgall-inducing insectsplant fertilizationsclerophyllous savannasoil fertility
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 631 - 640
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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