Seasonal variation in diet breadth of folivorous Lepidoptera in the Brazilian Cerrado
Nenhuma Miniatura disponível
Data
2016
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Resumo
Documented patterns of specialization and species interactions often omit plasticity in resource use across space and time, yet such variation is an important part of species interactions. To examine temporal variation in resource use, we compared species- and community-level patterns of host plant use by folivorous caterpillars between the dry and rainy seasons in four preserved areas of cerrado vegetation in the Distrito Federal, Brazil. We sampled plants and caterpillars in 10 m circular plots monthly from March 2010 to March 2011. At the community level, we found a significant increase in the mean diet breadth of dry season caterpillars relative to those collected in the rainy season. Families and species of moths varied in diet breadth, but most exhibited a seasonal expansion. In particular, intraspecific comparisons showed a 30% increase in the number of host plants used in the dry season compared to the rainy season. These results provide a clear example of how temporal variation in resource use is heterogeneous, and more generalized patterns of resource use can emerge from studies at large temporal scales. Thus, seasonal or annual heterogeneity may obscure ecologically relevant specialized interactions that occur at smaller scales.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Citação
SCHERRER, Scheila et al. Seasonal variation in diet breadth of folivorous Lepidoptera in the Brazilian Cerrado. Biotropica, Hoboken, v. 48, n. 4, p. 491-498, 2016. DOI: 10.1111/btp.12325. Disponível em: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/btp.12325. Acesso em: 20 jul. 2023.