Predation, resource availability, and community structure in Neotropical water-filled tree holes

Abstract

Predation and resource availability influence community structure in many aquatic ecosystems. Predators (odonates) and resources (leaf litter) were manipulated to determine their independent effects on macroorganism species richness, abundance, and composition in water-filled tree holes of Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Interactive effects of these factors were also investigated in artificial tree holes. Large odonates reduced species richness in natural tree holes, but did not significantly reduce macroorganism abundance. The presence of larvae of the mosquito Culex urichii and the ceratopogonid midge Bezzia snowi were negatively associated with the presence of large odonate larvae. In natural tree holes, leaf litter addition and removal respectively increased and decreased richness by c. 1 species relative to controls, and macroorganism abundance was greater in litter addition holes than in litter removal holes. Independent effects of predation showed similar patterns in artificial holes, but there was no predator×resource interaction, partly due to the short duration of the experiment. Predators grew faster when litter was abundant, and indirectly reduced litter degradation rates when resources were scarce in artificial holes. Both resource availability and predation influence species richness in water-filled tree holes, but act at different time scales; richness follows productivity (litter quantity) over a period of weeks, whereas effects of predation may span several months.