Linked Life Data

17687325

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/17687325

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
7154
pubmed:dateCreated
2007-8-9
pubmed:abstractText
For numerous taxa, species richness is much higher in tropical than in temperate zone habitats. A major challenge in community ecology and evolutionary biogeography is to reveal the mechanisms underlying these differences. For herbivorous insects, one such mechanism leading to an increased number of species in a given locale could be increased ecological specialization, resulting in a greater proportion of insect species occupying narrow niches within a community. We tested this hypothesis by comparing host specialization in larval Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) at eight different New World forest sites ranging in latitude from 15 degrees S to 55 degrees N. Here we show that larval diets of tropical Lepidoptera are more specialized than those of their temperate forest counterparts: tropical species on average feed on fewer plant species, genera and families than do temperate caterpillars. This result holds true whether calculated per lepidopteran family or for a caterpillar assemblage as a whole. As a result, there is greater turnover in caterpillar species composition (greater beta diversity) between tree species in tropical faunas than in temperate faunas. We suggest that greater specialization in tropical faunas is the result of differences in trophic interactions; for example, there are more distinct plant secondary chemical profiles from one tree species to the next in tropical forests than in temperate forests as well as more diverse and chronic pressures from natural enemy communities.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
1476-4687
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
9
pubmed:volume
448
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
696-9
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2007
pubmed:articleTitle
Host specificity of Lepidoptera in tropical and temperate forests.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA. ldyer@tulane.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't