Leaf-litter insects at Amani Nature Reserve, Tanzania: A comparative analysis | ||
| Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. A, Entomology | ||
| Article 5, Volume 6, Issue 1, April 2013, Pages 35-42 PDF (161.07 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/eajbsa.2013.13817 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Esra Elfaki1; Francisca Malembeka2; Alex Tamba Johnson3; Shombe Hassan2; Eihab Idris4 | ||
| 1Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Postal Code 11115, Sudan. | ||
| 2Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania | ||
| 3Birdlife International Liberia | ||
| 4Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Within a forest, the spatial variation in leaf litter composition is expected to affect both the density and diversity of leaf litter insects. In this study, a comparison of insect community structure in the leaf litter has been conducted between three habitats at Amani Nature Reserve: Bamboo shrubs (Bambuseae), gum trees (Eucalyptus sp.) and camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora). A total number of 1919 individuals were collected from pitfall traps and 658 species from quadrate plots. Collected specimens were found to represent 8 different orders: Blattodea, Coleoptera, Collembolan, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenopter, Orthoptera and Thysanura. Diptera had the highest abundance in the overall collection. Statistical analysis did not detect a significant difference in insect composition between the three leaf litter habitats. Likewise, the depth of litter material had no significant influence on insect composition. Furthermore, no significant difference in insect composition was detected between day and night collections. Overall, these results suggest that the community of leaf litter insects at Amani Nature Reserve is characterized by considerable stability against spatial and temporal environmental fluctuations. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| biodiversity; Tropical rain forest; leaf litter insects; Bambuseae; Eucalyptus; Cinnamomum camphora | ||
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