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A highly resolved food web for insect seed predators in a species‐rich tropical forest
Author(s) -
Gripenberg Sofia,
Basset Yves,
Lewis Owen T.,
Terry J. Christopher D.,
Wright S. Joseph,
Simón Indira,
Fernández D. Catalina,
CedeñoSanchez Marjorie,
Rivera Marleny,
Barrios Héctor,
Brown John W.,
Calderón Osvaldo,
Cognato Anthony I.,
Kim Jorma,
Miller Scott E.,
Morse Geoffrey E.,
PinzónNavarro Sara,
Quicke Donald L. J.,
Robbins Robert K.,
Salminen JuhaPekka,
Vesterinen Eero
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.13359
Subject(s) - biology , predation , ecology , trophic level , insect , predator , food web , seed predation , competition (biology) , trophic cascade , panama , seed dispersal , population , biological dispersal , demography , sociology
Abstract The top‐down and indirect effects of insects on plant communities depend on patterns of host use, which are often poorly documented, particularly in species‐rich tropical forests. At Barro Colorado Island, Panama, we compiled the first food web quantifying trophic interactions between the majority of co‐occurring woody plant species and their internally feeding insect seed predators. Our study is based on more than 200 000 fruits representing 478 plant species, associated with 369 insect species. Insect host‐specificity was remarkably high: only 20% of seed predator species were associated with more than one plant species, while each tree species experienced seed predation from a median of two insect species. Phylogeny, but not plant traits, explained patterns of seed predator attack. These data suggest that seed predators are unlikely to mediate indirect interactions such as apparent competition between plant species, but are consistent with their proposed contribution to maintaining plant diversity via the Janzen–Connell mechanism.