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The insect fauna of Acacia species in Mkomazi Game Reserve, north‐east Tanzania
Author(s) -
KRÜGER OLIVER,
MCGAVIN GEORGE
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2311.1997.00097.x
Subject(s) - george (robot) , fauna , citation , acacia , tanzania , game reserve , natural history , library science , biology , history , classics , zoology , ecology , art history , ethnology , computer science , wildlife
The last 15 years have seen an immense increase in knowledge of insect communities in tropical forest tree canopies (Erwin, 1982, 1983; Moran & Southwood, 1982; Adis et al., 1984; Stork, 1987a,b, 1991; Morset al., 1988; Basset, 1991a,b, 1996; Basset & Kitching, 1991). However, insect communities in tropical savannah tree canopies are still comparatively poorly studied. No large-scale study has yet been conducted anywhere in an African savannah habitat (Erwin, 1995), although savannahs cover over 40% of the surface of the tropics (Cole, 1986; Solbrig, 1996). Consequently, there are virtually no estimates of insect diversity in this habitat (Lewinsohn & Price, 1996). To assess habitats for their relevance for conservation, ecological inventories provide an essential tool for environmental management (Campbell, 1993) and insects are a major component in every terrestrial habitat. However, studying arthropod communities in savannah habitats is difficult because of a lack of clear habitat boundaries (Lewinsohn & Price, 1996). In contrast, trees provide an excellent framework for insect community research, because they can be considered a discrete ecological unit (Southwood & Kennedy, 1983). Trees also have great niche diversification because of structural complexity (Lawton, 1978, 1986; Lawton & Price, 1979), are a stable resource (Southwood, 1978) and their inhabitants are all more or less trophically interlinked (Moran & Southwood, 1982). As Moran & Southwood (1982) conclude, ‘in almost all respects it is easier to sample arboreal communities more completely, more widely and more accurately, [. . .], than it is to sample other very complex communities’. This is especially true for savannah tree canopies where the overlap to neighbouring trees is lower than in forest habitats. This study analyses the insect community associated with thirty-one trees of sixAcacia species in Mkomazi Game Reserve, north-east Tanzania using a mist-blowing technique. It is the biggest insect sample ever taken from a tropical savannah habitat. Sampling effort and its effect on species richness as well as abundance patterns and the distribution of diversity, abundance and biomass among insect taxa are analysed.