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Control of Avicennia germinans recruitment and survival by Junonia evarete larvae in a disturbed mangrove forest in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 1999

Carola Elster
Affiliation:
Justus–Liebig–Universität, Botanisches Institut I, Senckenbergstr. 17–21, D–35390 Giessen, Germany Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, INVEMAR, Apartado 1016, Santa Marta, Colombia
Laura Perdomo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, INVEMAR, Apartado 1016, Santa Marta, Colombia
Jaime Polanía
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudios Caribeños, Sede San Andrés de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carretera Circunvalar de San Luis, sector Free Town no. 52–44, San Andrés Isla, Colombia
Marie-Luise Schnetter
Affiliation:
Justus–Liebig–Universität, Botanisches Institut I, Senckenbergstr. 17–21, D–35390 Giessen, Germany

Abstract

In the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, a brackish lagoon system on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, about 60% of the mangrove forests died from hypersalinization. The die-back was first encountered in 1964 and mass mortality started in the late 1960s. Although efforts are being made to reestablish the destroyed areas, regeneration is slow, which may be partly due to Junonia evarete caterpillars defoliating Avicennia germinans seedlings. The interaction between insects and seedlings was studied. Both J. evarete butterflies and caterpillars were abundant during the main rainy season, the time of highest fruit production in A. germinans. During the dry season the herbivore disappeared. The caterpillars fed exclusively on A. germinans propagules, seedlings, and pneumatophores. They preferred young seedlings to older plants and did not feed on trees. At some sites, 100% of the A. germinans seedlings died due to the caterpillar attack. Seedlings at open, disturbed sites were attacked more than seedlings protected by small roofs and trenches or those under a closed canopy. Only seedlings protected by insect nets or seedlings germinating at the beginning of the dry season had good chances of survival. The results suggest that in the highly disturbed areas of the Ciénaga Grande regeneration of A. germinans is strongly inhibited by the feeding behaviour of J. evarete caterpillars.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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