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Diversity and composition of Amazonian moths in primary, secondary and plantation forests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Joseph Hawes ,
Catarina da Silva Motta ,
William L. Overal ,
Jos Barlow ,
Toby A. Gardner  and
Carlos A. Peres
Joseph Hawes*
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
Catarina da Silva Motta
Affiliation:
Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Caixa Postal 478, Manaus, AM 69011-970, Brazil
William L. Overal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Entomologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), Av. Perimetral 1901, Bairro Terra Firme, Belém, PA 66077-530, Brazil
Jos Barlow
Affiliation:
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK
Toby A. Gardner
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais 37200-000, Brazil
Carlos A. Peres
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: j.hawes@uea.ac.uk
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Abstract:

The response of tropical fauna to landscape-level habitat change is poorly understood. Increased conversion of native primary forest to alternative land-uses, including secondary forest and exotic tree plantations, highlights the importance of assessing diversity patterns within these forest types. We sampled 1848 moths from 335 species of Arctiidae, Saturniidae and Sphingidae, over a total of 30 trap-nights. Sampling was conducted during the wet season 2005, using three light-traps at 15 sites within areas of primary forest, secondary forest and Eucalyptus urograndis plantations in northern Brazilian Amazonia. The Jari study region provides one of the best opportunities to investigate the ecological consequences of land-use change, and this study is one of the first to examine patterns of diversity for a neotropical moth assemblage in a human-dominated landscape in lowland Amazonia. We found that the three moth families responded consistently to disturbance in terms of abundance and community structure but variably in terms of species richness, in a manner apparently supporting a life-history hypothesis. Our results suggest that secondary forests and Eucalyptus plantations can support a substantial level of moth diversity but also show that these forest types hold assemblages with significantly distinct community structures and composition from primary forest. In addition, the ability of these converted land-uses to support primary forest species may be enhanced by proximity to surrounding primary forest, an issue which requires consideration when assessing the diversity and composition of mobile taxa in human-dominated landscapes.

Keywords

ArctiidaeBrazilhuman-dominated landscapesland-use changeLepidopteraSaturnidaeSphingidae
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 281 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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References

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