Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)

The influence of temporal variation in the host specificity of invertebrates to estimates of biodiversity is rarely considered. While patterns at large spatial scales have stimulated much attention, such comparisons are constrained for southern-hemisphere biomes because the patterning of invertebrat...

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Main Authors: Moir, Melinda, Brennan, Karl, Fletcher, M., Majer, Jonathan, Koch, John
Format: Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44947
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author Moir, Melinda
Brennan, Karl
Fletcher, M.
Majer, Jonathan
Koch, John
author_facet Moir, Melinda
Brennan, Karl
Fletcher, M.
Majer, Jonathan
Koch, John
author_sort Moir, Melinda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The influence of temporal variation in the host specificity of invertebrates to estimates of biodiversity is rarely considered. While patterns at large spatial scales have stimulated much attention, such comparisons are constrained for southern-hemisphere biomes because the patterning of invertebrates on plants is largely unknown. Here, we analyse variation of plant-dwelling Hemiptera from 15 understorey plant species over 18 months in the south-west Australian biodiversity hotspot. Analyses showed significant interactions in species composition between sampling period and plant species. Fauna that were “effectively specialized” (host-specificity index) to plants changed with season, although this was also related to the number of singletons and overall species richness. Sampling from a single season also overestimated the degree of host specificity by 52% and underestimated the perception of species richness when an outbreak of a particular herbivore occurred. High host-specificity values (12.7 hemipteran species per plant) support the case for high estimates of global arthropod richness.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-449472017-09-13T16:08:58Z Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera) Moir, Melinda Brennan, Karl Fletcher, M. Majer, Jonathan Koch, John effective specialization inventory species richness estimators insects global biodiversity The influence of temporal variation in the host specificity of invertebrates to estimates of biodiversity is rarely considered. While patterns at large spatial scales have stimulated much attention, such comparisons are constrained for southern-hemisphere biomes because the patterning of invertebrates on plants is largely unknown. Here, we analyse variation of plant-dwelling Hemiptera from 15 understorey plant species over 18 months in the south-west Australian biodiversity hotspot. Analyses showed significant interactions in species composition between sampling period and plant species. Fauna that were “effectively specialized” (host-specificity index) to plants changed with season, although this was also related to the number of singletons and overall species richness. Sampling from a single season also overestimated the degree of host specificity by 52% and underestimated the perception of species richness when an outbreak of a particular herbivore occurred. High host-specificity values (12.7 hemipteran species per plant) support the case for high estimates of global arthropod richness. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44947 10.1080/00222933.2011.597522 Taylor & Francis Ltd restricted
spellingShingle effective specialization
inventory
species richness estimators
insects
global biodiversity
Moir, Melinda
Brennan, Karl
Fletcher, M.
Majer, Jonathan
Koch, John
Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title_full Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title_fullStr Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title_full_unstemmed Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title_short Multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (Hemiptera)
title_sort multi-scale patterns in the host specificity of plant-dwelling arthropods: the influence of host plant and temporal variation on species richness and assemblage composition of true bugs (hemiptera)
topic effective specialization
inventory
species richness estimators
insects
global biodiversity
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44947