Interactions among Neotropical beetles (Coleoptera) and host plants : from feeding niche and host specificity to food web structure
(2011)
Files
MeskensPhDThesis2011.pdf
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 84.92 MB
Details
- Authors
- Supervisors
- Hance, Thierry
- Abstract
- (en) Tropical forests have motivated decades of ecological research to understand its exceptional biodiversity and its origins, and to quantify this flora and fauna diversities. The most important drivers of this diversity are interactions among species, such as plant-herbivore, which represent mainly in the Tropics, more than 40% of global terrestrial biodiversity. Neotropical plant-phytophagous hispine beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) communities represent an extraordinary model to study this biodiversity. The first part is dedicated to identify species assemblages of Neotropical hispine beetles associated with their host plant species (Arecales, Poales and Zingiberales) in Panama. Furthermore, by performing both types of feeding trials (choice and no-choice tests) we defined the potential and realized feeding niches for 15 hispine species. Then, using the recent qualitative and quantitative food web approaches and, several metrics and indices we characterized the “architecture” of interactions among hispine beetles and their host plants viewed as ecological networks. The modular structure of plant-hispine food web reflected perfectly the taxonomic level of hispine beetle host specificity. The final part of this thesis investigated the food web structure of three Neotropical superfamilies of Coleoptera (Chrysomeloidea, Buprestoidea and Curculionoidea) and their host plants in Central America. Our results indicated a similar nested structure, and that these phytophagous beetles are sufficiently specialized to play a major role in maintaining high levels of tropical plant diversity.
- Affiliations
Citations
Meskens, C. (2011). Interactions among Neotropical beetles (Coleoptera) and host plants : from feeding niche and host specificity to food web structure. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/151305