Factores locales y su influencia en la abundancia, diversidad y estructura de la comunidad de invertebrados que habitan en bromelias de dosel en un bosque nublado ecuatoriano

摘要

This study examined the influence of vertical stratification, specific location and position of the bromeliad, forest canopy cover, bromeliad specie, and plant volume for the invertebrate communities inhabiting tank bromeliads in an ecuadorian cloud forest. From each one of the 60 bromeliads sampled, the entire macroscopic fauna and leaf litter, was collected into 250-ml bottles containing 70% etanol. Invertebrates were identified to the most specific taxonomic level. Functional feeding group, and habitat preference for each organism was defined. The sample included pre-adult and adult life stages. One-way ANOVA and GLMs were run to assess the effect of the tested factors. A total of 11728 individuals belonging to 115 morfoespcies were identified. In general, the abundance, and diversity of the invertebrate community were associated with plant volume and forest canopy cover. However, the results of the GLM demonstrate that invertebrates respond in different way to the distinct factors analyzed according to the functional feeding group, taxonomic group, habitat preference, and life stage in which they are (see Table 3). The results illustrate the importance of consider particular variables for each organism when the invertebrate community is examined. Implications of the ecological factors, especially vertical stratification of arthropods, and the relatively high presence of terrestrial invertebrates in bromeliads were discussed.