Diversity patterns of gall-inducing insects in the Cerrado: the importance of host plant community composition / Padrões de diversidade de insetos galhadores no Cerrado: a importância da comunidade de plantas

AUTOR(ES)

Walter Santos de Araújo

FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

16/02/2011

RESUMO

The idea that host plants influence the richness of galling is widespread and has several approaches in literature. Many of these approaches take into account the hosts richness, the density of vegetation, plant species composition and architecture of plants, as factors that influence the diversity patterns of gall-inducing insects. In this study we investigated the importance of structure, richness and community composition of plants to the distribution of galling. Inventories on the diversity of gall morphotypes and host plants were conducted in various areas of the Brazilian Cerrado, in the states of Distrito Federal, Goiás, Minas Gerais and Tocantins. Altogether we sampled 1882 plants belonging to 131 species and 43 plant families, among which 64 species (48.8%) and 31 families (72.1%) had galling. We recorded 112 species of galling that occurred mainly in Vochysiaceae (with 19 species), followed by Fabaceae and Malpighiaceae (with 13 and 12 species respectively). Were recorded five genera and 13 species of plants, considered as a super-host of galling. These taxa housed together 45 morphotypes of gall, which represents 40% of the total diversity sampled. The genus Qualea (Vochysiaceae) alone sheltered 18 morphotypes of gall. No specific level Qualea parviflora was the species with the greatest richness of gall (eight types). At the structural level, the vegetal cover hypothesis was the best predictor of the richness of galling, explaining 45%. We also find results which show that factors such as the density and architecture of plants positively influenced the diversity of galling. The richness of plant species and plant community composition were also important for the distribution of galling. For example, where the super-host taxa were present occurred two times more galls than where they were absent. Our results indicate that both the structure and the richness and composition of the flora influenced the diversity of galling. Thus, the results provide an expanding knowledge of the diversity of gallinducing insects, under the botanical point of view.

ASSUNTO(S)

ecologia insetos galhadores plantas hospedeiras cerrado galling insects host plants cerrado

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