Yams and megapode mounds in the lowland rain forest of Papua New Guinea

Human Ecology ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Dwyer ◽  
Monica Minnegal
1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny J. Gullan ◽  
Ralf C. Buckley ◽  
Philip S. Ward

ABSTRACTEight species of Myzolecanium Beccari (Hemiptera: Homoptera: Coccoidea: Coccidae) are reported from ant nests in stem cavities of living lowland rain forest trees in Papua New Guinea. The coccids are confined to this microhabitat but are associated with a taxonomically broad range of ants and host trees. Attendant ants belonged to six species in three genera and two subfamilies: Anonychomyrma Donisthorpe (Dolichoderinae), Crematogaster Lund (Myrmicinae) and Podomyrma F. Smith (Myrmicinae). Host plants belonged to at least five families and included both apparently specialized (with domatia) and unspecialized species. Saplings containing the nests of Anonychomyrma scrutator (F. Smith), Anonychomyrma sp. 1 and Podomyrma laevifrons F. Smith were dissected and the structure of nest chambers and their contents recorded. Only some chambers had entrance holes, but many were interconnected by transverse passages. The coccids were in low numbers and fairly evenly distributed between ant-occupied chambers. The characteristics of the Myzolecanium-ant association, the role of the coccids as trophobionts, and the nature of the plant associations are discussed. Taxonomically, new combinations are proposed by P. J. Gullan for three species previously placed in Cryptostigma Ferris: Myzolecanium endoeucalyptus (Qin & Gullan), M. magnetinsulae (Qin & Gullan), and M. robertsi (Williams & Watson).


2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2096-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Bryan ◽  
Phil Shearman ◽  
Julian Ash ◽  
J. B. Kirkpatrick

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Dahl ◽  
Stephen J. Richards ◽  
Vojtech Novotny

Abstract:Major tropical rivers have been suggested to be important dispersal barriers that increase the beta diversity of animal communities in lowland rain forests. We tested this hypothesis using assemblages of frogs in the floodplains of the Sepik River, a major river system in Papua New Guinea. We surveyed frogs at five sites within a continuous 150 × 500-km area of lowland rain forest bisected by the Sepik, using standardized visual and auditory survey techniques. We documented 769 frogs from 44 species. The similarity in species composition decreased with logarithm of geographical distance between the sites, which ranged from 82 to 465 km. The similarity decay did not depend on whether or not the compared sites were separated by the Sepik River or whether the species were aquatic or terrestrial breeders. Likewise, a DCA ordination of frog assemblages did not show separation of sites by the river as a significant factor explaining their composition. Our results suggest that even major rivers, such as the Sepik, may not act as dispersal barriers. Rivers may not limit the distribution of frogs and therefore have a limited effect on determining frog species abundance and assemblage structure in rain forests.


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Novotny ◽  
Anthony R. Clarke ◽  
Richard A. I. Drew ◽  
Solomon Balagawi ◽  
Barbara Clifford

Frugivorous dacine fruit flies were studied in a lowland tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea to determine their host specificity, abundance, and the number of species attacking various plant species. Plant species hosted 0–3 fruit fly species at median (1–3 quartile) densities of 1 (0–17) fruit flies per 100 fruits. Fruit flies were mostly specialized to a single plant family (83% species) and within each family to a single genus (88% species), while most of the species (66%) were able to feed on >1 congeneric plant species. Only 30 from the 53 studied plant species were colonized by fruit flies. The plant–fruit fly food web, including these 30 plant species and the total of 29 fruit fly species feeding on them, was divided into 14 compartments, each including 1–8 plant species hosting mutually disjunct assemblages of fruit flies. This structure minimizes indirect interactions among plant species via shared herbivores. The local species pool was estimated at 152±32 (±SE) fruit fly species. Forty per cent of all taxonomically described species known from Papua New Guinea were reared or trapped in our study area. Such a high proportion indicates low beta-diversity of fruit flies. Steiner traps were highly efficient in sampling the lure-responsive fruit fly species as they re-collected 84% of all species trapped in the same area 5 y before. Fruit fly monitoring by these traps is a cheap, simple and efficient method for the study of spatial and temporal changes in rain-forest communities.


2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arison Arihafa ◽  
Andrew L. Mack

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Fibich ◽  
Jan Lepš ◽  
Vojtěch Novotný ◽  
Petr Klimeš ◽  
Jakub Těšitel ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 57 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 227-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent I.A. McInnes ◽  
Colin E. Dunn ◽  
Eion M. Cameron ◽  
Linus Kameko

1988 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Saulei ◽  
M. D. Swaine

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document