Comparisons of the Leaf Litter Herpetofauna in Abandoned Cacao Plantations and Primary Rain Forest in Costa Rica: Some Implications for Faunal Restoration

Biotropica ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel T. Heinen
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Rain Forest

Ants accelerate litter decomposition in a Costa Rican lowland tropical rain forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence P. McGlynn ◽  
Evan K. Poirson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Rain Forests ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

Abstract:The decomposition of leaf litter is governed, in part, by litter invertebrates. In tropical rain forests, ants are dominant predators in the leaf litter and may alter litter decomposition through the action of a top-down control of food web structure. The role of ants in litter decomposition was investigated in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest with two experiments. In a mesocosm experiment, we manipulated ant presence in 50 ambient leaf-litter mesocosms. In a litterbag gradient experiment, Cecropia obtusifolia litter was used to measure decomposition rate constants across gradients in nutrients, ant density and richness, with 27 separate litterbag treatments for total arthropod exclusion or partial arthropod exclusion. After 2 mo, mass loss in mesocosms containing ants was 30.9%, significantly greater than the 23.5% mass loss in mesocosms without ants. In the litter bags with all arthropods excluded, decomposition was best accounted by the carbon: phosphorus content of soil (r2 = 0.41). In litter bags permitting smaller arthropods but excluding ants, decomposition was best explained by the local biomass of ants in the vicinity of the litter bags (r2 = 0.50). Once the microarthropod prey of ants are permitted to enter litterbags, the biomass of ants near the litterbags overtakes soil chemistry as the regulator of decomposition. In concert, these results support a working hypothesis that litter-dwelling ants are responsible for accelerating litter decomposition in lowland tropical rain forests.

Using k-nn and discriminant analyses to classify rain forest types in a Landsat TM image over northern Costa Rica

2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2485-2494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirpa Thessler ◽  
Steven Sesnie ◽  
Zayra S. Ramos Bendaña ◽  
Kalle Ruokolainen ◽  
Erkki Tomppo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Landsat Tm ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Landsat Tm Image ◽  
Tm Image ◽  
Discriminant Analyses

Coccomyces clusiae. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cabarroi
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Disease Information ◽  
Fallen Leaves

Abstract A description is provided for Coccomyces clusiae, which is found on dead, fallen leaves in leaf litter. This species is not associated with any disease. Information is included on its geographical distribution (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Guyana and Venezuela) and hosts (dead leaves of Clusia rosea and Clusia sp.).

Two new species of Galumna (Acari, Oribatida) from Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1384-1394
Author(s):  
Sergey G. Ermilov ◽  
Josef Starý
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
National Park ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
Anogenital Region ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Porose Area ◽  
Median Pore ◽  
Group Species

Two new species of the subgenus Galumna (Galumna) (Oribatida, Galumnidae) are described from leaf litter of evergreen rain forest in eastern Madagascar. Galumna brevilineata sp. nov. differs from its closest species Galumna (Galumna) anuakensis Ermilov, 2019 and Galumna paracalcicola Ermilov & Anichkin 2014 by the length of interlamellar and lamellar setae, the localization of notogastral lyrifissures im, the ornamentation of anogenital region, the morphology of bothridial setae and postanal porose area, and the absence of median pore. Galumna (Galumna) paraarmatifera sp. nov. differs from its closest species Galumna armatifera Mahunka, 1996 by the morphology of bothridial setae and anal plates, and the length of circumpedal carinae. An identification key to species of Galumna (Galumna) of the calcicola-group (species with short lamellar lines) was presented.

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