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Long-distance dispersal helps germinating mahogany seedlings escape defoliation by a specialist caterpillar

Oecologia volume 162, pages 405–412 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Herbivores and pathogens with acute host specificity may promote high tree diversity in tropical forests by causing distance- and density-dependent mortality of seedlings, but evidence is scarce. Although Lepidoptera larvae are the most abundant and host-specific guild of herbivores in these forests, their impact upon seedling distributions remains largely unknown. A firm test of the mechanism underpinning the Janzen–Connell hypothesis is difficult, even for a single tree species, because it requires more than just manipulating seeds and seedlings and recording their fates. Experimental tests require: (1) an insect herbivore that is identified and highly specialised, (2) linkage to an in situ measure (or prevention) of herbivory, and (3) evaluation and confirmation among many conspecific adult trees across years. Here we present experimental evidence for a spatially explicit interaction between newly germinating seedlings of a Neotropical emergent tree, big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla, Meliaceae), and caterpillars of a noctuid moth (Steniscadia poliophaea). In the understory of a southeastern Amazon forest, the proportion of attacks, leaf area lost, and seedling mortality due to this specialised herbivore peaked near Swietenia trees, but declined significantly with increasing distance from mature fruiting trees, as predicted by the Janzen–Connell hypothesis. We conclude that long-distance dispersal events (>50 m) provided an early survival advantage for Swietenia seedlings, and propose that the role of larval Lepidoptera as Janzen–Connell vectors may be underappreciated in tropical forests.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Brazilian government and the Kayapó community of A’ukre for research permission, as well as Conservation International—Brazil for logistical support in the field. We are grateful for early helpful discussions with A. A. Agrawal, S. C. Thomas, S. Smith and C. Nock; and to J. Solorzano-Filho for formatting the photos in Fig. 1. Funding was kindly provided by a doctoral scholarship to J. M. N. from Le Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et Technologies (Government of Québec, Canada), a grant from the Donner Foundation Canada, and a grant to J. R. M. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Research was done in accordance with the laws of Brazil.

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Author notes

  1. Julian M. Norghauer

    Present address: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, 21 Altenbergrain, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Earth Sciences Building, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B3, Canada

    Julian M. Norghauer & Jay R. Malcolm

  2. Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 360 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    James Grogan

  3. Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade de Brasília, CP 04357, Brasília, DF, 70919-970, Brazil

    Jeanine M. Felfili

Authors
  1. Julian M. Norghauer
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  2. James Grogan
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  3. Jay R. Malcolm
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  4. Jeanine M. Felfili
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Correspondence to Julian M. Norghauer.

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Communicated by Jacqui Shykoff.

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Norghauer, J.M., Grogan, J., Malcolm, J.R. et al. Long-distance dispersal helps germinating mahogany seedlings escape defoliation by a specialist caterpillar. Oecologia 162, 405–412 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1476-9

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Keywords

  • Janzen–Connell hypothesis
  • Plant–insect interactions
  • Seedling herbivory
  • Swietenia macrophylla
  • Tropical forest