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Impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on terrestrial leeches in Indonesian Borneo
Author(s) -
Nelaballi Swapna,
Finkel Benjamin J.,
Bernard Andrew B.,
Estrada Gene R.,
Setiawan Endro,
Setia Tatang Mitra,
Susanto Tri Wahyu,
Rhanda Raden,
Andika Dika,
Lemoine Sylvain,
Jaffe Sarah M.,
Barrow Elizabeth J.,
Justinek Živa,
Wittmer Heiko U.,
Marshall Andrew J.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/btp.13146
Subject(s) - abiotic component , leech , ecology , rainforest , habitat , biotic component , biology , abundance (ecology) , tiger , geography , computer science , computer security , world wide web
Haemadipsid leeches are ubiquitous inhabitants of tropical and sub‐tropical forests in the Indo‐Pacific region. They are increasingly used as indicator taxa for biomonitoring, yet very little is known about their basic ecology. For example, to date no study has assessed the occurrence and distribution of haemadipsid leeches across naturally occurring gradients within intact habitats. We analyzed a long‐term data set (2012–2020) on the closely related tiger ( Haemadipsa picta ) and brown ( Haemadipsa spp .) leech species to investigate if and how abiotic and biotic factors influence their occurrence across a gradient of forest types at an undisturbed tropical rainforest site in Indonesian Borneo. We compared a series of negative binomial mixed models and found that, of the abiotic factors, soil moisture had the largest positive effect on encounter rates of both leech species. Among biotic factors, forest type had differential effects on counts of the two species: while tiger leech counts were greater in low elevation forest types, brown leech counts were greater in high elevation forest types. Additionally, we found that the presence of one species had a positive effect on the presence of the other species. Finally, our results show that the tiger leech has a narrower distribution, being restricted to lower elevation forest types with higher water retention, suggesting that the tiger leech could be more sensitive to lower soil moisture levels. Abstract in Indonesian is available with online material.