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Predation on artificial caterpillars is higher in countryside than near-natural forest habitat in lowland south-western Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Carlo Lutz Seifert ,
Lisamarie Lehner ,
Marc-Oliver Adams  and
Konrad Fiedler
Carlo Lutz Seifert*
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Lisamarie Lehner
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Marc-Oliver Adams
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Konrad Fiedler
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Ecology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

Predation pressure is essential in regulating population dynamics of herbivorous insects. We used artificial caterpillars (25 × 4 mm) made from brown-or green-coloured plasticine to compare predation pressure between countryside and near-natural rain-forest habitat in the Gulfo Dulce region (Costa Rica). Within each habitat, 162 caterpillars were placed randomly on different substrates along a 1200-m transect and at heights between 0.5 and 2.0 m. Artificial caterpillars were inspected at 24-h intervals for 3 consecutive days. Predation pressure was almost twice as high for countryside (mean attack frequency per capita: 1.11 ± 0.08 SE) compared with rain forest (0.66 ± 0.07 SE). In both habitats arthropods emerged as chief predator group, followed by birds. Attacks by non-volant mammals were very rare and restricted to rain-forest sites. In the countryside, bird attacks were more than four times as common as in forest, indicating a change in their relative importance across habitats.

Keywords

arthropod predatorsartificial caterpillarsbirdsCosta Ricacountrysidepredationrain forest
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 281 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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