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Reaching the canopy on the ground: incidence of infection and host-use by mistletoes (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) on trees felled for timber in Amazonian rainforests

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Abstract

There is a profound absence of knowledge of infestation prevalence and host-use by mistletoes of mature South American tropical rainforests. In this study, we fill this gap using information gathered from felled trees at a logging concession area in Amazonian Brazil. We sampled individuals of 18 tree species, which occurred in two forest physiognomies; open forest with canopy interrupted by palm trees and closed, denser forest, with emergent trees. We hypothesized that infection incidence would be higher in open than in closed forest, irrespective of the mistletoe species involved. In addition, we expected that mistletoe parasitism would be higher on host species that were more abundant, taller, deciduous, and had less dense wood. We sampled 870 individual trees in both sites combined. All but one host species was infected by at least one species of mistletoe. We found 13 mistletoe species/morphospecies, Loranthaceae (7) and Viscaceae (6), parasitizing very different hosts. Mistletoe infection incidence was higher in the closed forest (10.3%) than in the open forest (5.4%). In the closed forest, host height influenced incidence positively, while deciduousness had a negative influence. Our results show that mistletoes are common in the canopy of pristine tropical forests and, contrary to expectations, that infection incidence was higher in the closed forest. The positive relation between infection incidence and host height in this forest type suggests that emergent trees have higher chances of being infected than individuals of correspondent species in the lower forest layers.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the help of our field assistants, Mr. Sabbat and Eucielde Pantoja de Oliveira, and the logistical support of Coomflona. We thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the scholarship granted to the first author and the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for authorizing research in a Conservation Unit (SISBIO 36066). Rafael Arruda, Ricardo Scoles, Ademir Ruschel, and two anonymous reviewers made important contributions to the early versions of the manuscript. Adrian Barnett helped with the English. This is publication 19 of Parasitic Plants Research Group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais da Amazônia, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Rua Vera Paz, s/n, Santarém, PA, 68100-000, Brazil

    Jéssica Lira & Rodrigo F. Fadini

  2. Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Estrada do Bem-Querer, s/n, Vitória da Conquista, BA, 45083-900, Brazil

    Claudenir S. Caires

  3. Instituto de Biodiversidade e Florestas, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Rua Vera Paz, s/n, Santarém, PA, 68100-000, Brazil

    Rodrigo F. Fadini

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  1. Jéssica Lira
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  2. Claudenir S. Caires
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  3. Rodrigo F. Fadini
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Correspondence to Rodrigo F. Fadini.

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Communicated by E. T. F. Witkowski.

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Fig. S1

Maps of sampled host tree species. a In open tropical forest with palms (JPEG 880 kb)

Fig. S1

Maps of sampled host tree species. b In dense tropical forest with emergent trees. Courtesy of Marcelo Brasa Santos (JPEG 932 kb)

Fig. S2

Interaction network formed by mistletoes and the host composed of trees extracted from two logging areas. Lines connect hosts of the same species in both areas (pink = dense forest, blue = open forest). Courtesy of Marco Mello (PDF 274 kb)

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Lira, J., Caires, C.S. & Fadini, R.F. Reaching the canopy on the ground: incidence of infection and host-use by mistletoes (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) on trees felled for timber in Amazonian rainforests. Plant Ecol 218, 251–263 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-016-0683-9

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