Effect of biotic and abiotic factors on diversity patterns of anthophyllous insect communities in a tropical mountain forest.

The determinants of diversity are a central issue in ecology, particularly in Andean forests that are known to be a major diversity hotspot for several taxa. We examined the effect of abiotic (elevation and precipitation) and biotic (flowering plant diversity) factors considered to be decisive causal factors of diversity patterns on anthophyllous insect communities on mountain forest. Sampling was carried out in 100-m transects at eight elevational levels and during a period of 8 months. All flowering plants in the understory and their flowering visitors were recorded. Species richness and diversity were estimated for each elevation and month. Diversity of flowering plants, elevation, and precipitation were used as independent variables in multiple regressions against insect diversity. The evaluated abiotic and biotic factors had contrasting effects on insect diversity: a significant decrease on insect diversity occurred at high elevation and dry months (i.e., threshold effect), while it showed a positive relationship with flowering plant diversity through time (i.e., linear effect), but not along elevation. Rapid turnover of species of both interacting guilds was observed every 100-m altitude and month. Local insect communities were also divided functionally depending on the plant family they visit. These results indicate that each insect community is distinctive among elevations and months and that diversity of flowering plants, precipitation, and elevation influence their structure and composition. Thus, conservation strategies should involve protection of forest cover at the whole elevation gradient, in order to preserve common and exclusive components of diversity and consequently, the mosaic of plant-pollinator interactions.

Restricted pollen flow of Dieffenbachia seguine populations in fragmented and continuous tropical forest.

Habitat fragmentation can change the ecological context of populations, rupturing genetic connectivity among them, changing genetic structure, and increasing the loss of genetic diversity. We analyzed mating system and pollen structure in two population fragments and two continuous forest populations of Dieffenbachia seguine (Araceae), an insect-pollinated understory herb in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, México, using nine allozyme loci. Mating system analysis indicated almost complete outcrossing but some inbreeding among the adults. Pollen structure analysis indicated highly restricted pollen flow, both within and among populations. We showed that the effective pollination neighborhood was small in all populations, and slightly (though not significantly) smaller in fragments, partially as a consequence of an increase in density of reproductive individuals in those fragments. Using assignment analysis, we showed that all populations were strongly structured, suggesting that pollen and seed flow across the Los Tuxtlas landscape has been spatially restricted, though sufficient to maintain connectedness. Forest fragmentation at Los Tuxtlas has (so far) had limited impact on pollen dynamics, despite the changing ecological context, with reduced pollinator abundance being partially offset by increased flowering density in fragments. Continued outcrossing and limited pollen immigration, coupled with more extensive seed migration, should maintain genetic connectedness in D. seguine, if fragmentation is not further exacerbated by additional deforestation.