scholarly journals Spatial Ecology of the Fungal GenusXylariain a Tropical Cloud Forest

Biotropica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Thomas ◽  
Roo Vandegrift ◽  
Ashley Ludden ◽  
George C. Carroll ◽  
Bitty A. Roy
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest

scholarly journals Effects of moisture dynamics on bryophyte carbon fluxes in a tropical cloud forest

2019 ◽  
Vol 222 (4) ◽  
pp. 1766-1777
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Metcalfe ◽  
Jenny C. M. Ahlstrand
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Carbon Fluxes ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest ◽  
Moisture Dynamics

Consumption of macro-fungi by invertebrates in a Mexican tropical cloud forest: do fruit body characteristics matter?

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Guevara ◽  
Rodolfo Dirzo
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Fruit Body ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest ◽  
Aggregation Size ◽  
Coloration Patterns ◽  
Plant Herbivore ◽  
Consumer Interactions ◽  
The Tropics

The emphasis of antagonistic fungus–consumer interactions to date has been on temperate taxa and predominantly zoocentric, neglecting the effects on the fungal component. These interactions are expected to be especially complex and diverse in the tropics, where both components display their greatest diversity. Variability in fungivory (apparent biomass consumed) of understorey basidiomycetes in a tropical cloud forest was investigated to test whether this could be explained (at the proximate level) by apparency-related characteristics of the aboveground structures (colour of pileus, stipe and hymenium; size and aggregation), as has been suggested for plant–herbivore relationships. Considerable interspecific variation in fungivory was detected (range 0–50%). Cluster analysis showed that neighbouring clusters had dissimilar levels of fungivory. Such clusters were similar in colour attributes of aboveground structures, but differed in aggregation size and apparent biomass. A quantitative analysis also showed that colour attributes were not strongly associated with the observed variation of consumption levels, whereas apparent biomass and aggregation size did correlate with the observed variation in fungivory. Furthermore, specific identity correlated with fungivory. It was concluded that coloration patterns may not be important for fungivory, whereas genet size and species identity (probably via characteristics unrelated to apparency, such as mycotoxins and nutritional value) seemed to be critical factors.

Beetle pollination and fruit predation of Xanthosoma daguense (Araceae) in an Andean cloud forest in Colombia

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos García-Robledo ◽  
Gustavo Kattan ◽  
Carolina Murcia ◽  
Paulina Quintero-Marín
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Female Reproductive Success ◽  
Hand Pollination ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest ◽  
Nitidulid Beetles ◽  
Pollination Systems

This study describes a pollination system in a species of Araceae that involves three species of beetle, one of which is also a fruit predator. In a tropical cloud forest in Colombia, inflorescences of Xanthosoma daguense opened at dusk, releasing a sweet scent and raising their temperature 1–3 °C. Soon after, two species of Scarabaeidae (Dynastinae; Cyclocephala gregaria and C. amblyopsis) and one species of Nitidulidae (Macrostola costulata) arrived with pollen. Cyclocephala beetles remained inside the inflorescence for 24 h. The next night, Cyclocephala beetles left the inflorescence after picking up the freshly shed pollen, almost always moving to the nearest inflorescence available. The probability of inflorescence abortion and number of fruits set after the visit of one individual was equivalent for both Cyclocephala species. However, C. gregaria was much more abundant than C. amblyopsis, so it was the most important pollinator. There was a positive relationship between the number of dynastine visits and the number of fruits produced. Besides carrying pollen to the inflorescences, nitidulid beetles had a negative effect on female reproductive success through fruit predation. Nitidulid larvae developed inside the infructescence and preyed on up to 64% of the fruits. However, 8% of inflorescences not visited by dynastines were probably pollinated by nitidulids, because hand-pollination experiments showed that self-pollination was unlikely. Inflorescences potentially pollinated by nitidulids comprised 25% of the fruit crop in the year of our study. This interaction with a fruit predator that is also a potential pollinator resembles brood-site pollination systems in which pollinators prey on part of the fruit set (e.g. Ficus, senita cacti, Yucca), making this system substantially more complex than previously described dynastine-pollinated systems in aroids.

How drought and deciduousness shape xylem plasticity in three Costa Rican woody plant species

IAWA Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Scholz ◽  
Anke Stein ◽  
Brendan Choat ◽  
Steven Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Vessel Diameter ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Deciduous Tree ◽  
Deciduous Species ◽  
Evergreen Species ◽  
Seasonally Dry ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest ◽  
Tabebuia Rosea ◽  
Seasonally Dry Forest

This paper explores the phenotypic plasticity of xylem in tropical trees in order to test the hypothesis that different leaf phenological patterns influence levels of xylem plasticity. Wood anatomy was studied in the wet-deciduous species Cordia alliodora (Ruiz & Pav.) Oken, the dry-deciduous species Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC., and the evergreen species Ocotea veraguensis (Meisn.) Mez., collected from seasonally dry forest and tropical cloud forest in Costa Rica. Xylem plasticity and trait conservatism were examined by analysing the coefficient of variation (CV) and the relative distance plasticity index (RDPI) of xylem anatomical traits. The two deciduous species exhibited wider vessels, lower wood density, and higher Huber values than the evergreen species. Furthermore, intervessel connectivity was highest for the two deciduous species in seasonally dry forest compared to cloud forest, whereas the opposite was found for the evergreen species. Overall highest trait variability was found for all plants at the seasonally dry site. The evergreen species O. veraguensis had the highest plasticity values compared to the deciduous species. Highest plasticity was found for vessel composition index (vessel area/vessel number), whilestrongest trait conservatism was found for vessel diameter. In conclusion, our data indicate that evergreen O. veraguensis does not show less xylem plasticity than the two deciduous tree species studied.

Current-use pesticide transport to Costa Rica's high-altitude tropical cloud forest

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2709-2717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chubashini Shunthirasingham ◽  
Todd Gouin ◽  
Ying D. Lei ◽  
Clemens Ruepert ◽  
Luisa E. Castillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Pesticide Transport ◽  
Tropical Cloud Forest
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