Trait Variation in Moths Mirrors Small-Scaled Ecological Gradients in A Tropical Forest Landscape.

ABSTRACT: Along environmental gradients, communities are expected to be filtered from the regional species pool by physical constraints, resource availability, and biotic interactions. This should be reflected in species trait composition. Using data on species-rich moth assemblages sampled by light traps in a lowland rainforest landscape in Costa Rica, we show that moths in two unrelated clades (Erebidae-Arctiinae; Geometridae) are much smaller-sized in oil palm plantations than in nearby old-growth forest, with intermediate values at disturbed forest sites. In old-growth forest, Arctiinae predominantly show aposematic coloration as a means of anti-predator defense, whereas this trait is much reduced in the prevalence in plantations. Similarly, participation in Müllerian mimicry rings with Hymenopt

SUBMITTER: Rabl D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7563231 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature