Several monodominant rain-forest trees in New Caledonia have population size structures suggesting establishment following large-scale disturbance, with eventual replacement by shade-tolerant species predicted in the absence of future disturbance. Links of dominance and population dynamics to leaf-level photosynthesis were investigated in seedlings of 20 tree species from these forests, grown in experimental sun and shade conditions. In particular, we tested whether episodically regenerating (ER) species, including monodominants, have higher assimilation rates at high irradiances and lower tolerance of shade than continuously regenerating species (CR). ER species had higher maximum net assimilation rates (Amax-area) in sun plants (9.6 ± 0.4 μmol m−2 s−1) than CR species (6.2 ± 0.3 μmol m−2 s−1) and high plasticity, typical of shade-intolerant species, but monodominant species did not differ from other ER species. CR species had leaf-level traits consistent with shade tolerance, including lower dark respiration rates (Rd-area = 0.47 ± 0.03μmol m−2 s−1; Rd-mass = 7 ± 1 nmol g−1 s−1) than ER species (Rd-area = 0.63 ± 0.06 μmol m−2 s−1; Rd-mass = 11 ± 2 nmol g−1 s−1) in shade plants. Hence leaf-level assimilation traits were largely consistent with regeneration patterns, but do not explain why some shade-intolerant species can achieve monodominance.

Environmental complexity and spatial heterogeneity are important factors influencing the structure of ant species assemblages. This paper documents the effect of different vegetation and environmental factors on ant community structure and functional group composition in different habitat patches. Ants were sampled at 16 sites distributed across five habitat types in the Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary. Sampling was performed 10 times over a 2-y period using pitfall traps. A total of 100 species belonging to 41 genera were collected during the study. Ant species richness was best explained by a combination of percentage grass cover, percentage litter cover and number of saplings whereas percentage litter cover and soil nitrogen concentration significantly explained the variation in ant species abundance. Dominant Dolichoderinae were present only at forest edge and were found to be associated positively with percentage bare ground cover and negatively with percentage litter cover. Generalized Myrmicinae, subordinate Camponotini and tropical climate specialists were prevalent in shaded forest habitats whereas opportunists were more common in two types of open habitat. Our study underpins the influence of vegetational complexity, litter and soil chemical properties on the structure and composition of ant species assemblages and various functional groups across forested habitats in this little-studied region.

Because the fate of the seed rain has long been shown to be critical to understanding forest recruitment and regeneration, seed predation, seed pathogens and germination among different species was examined in primary (closed-canopy vs. tree-fall gap) and in secondary (banana vs. sugarcane vs. seeded pasture) cloud forest at Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador. I found (1) seed predation took more seeds than either seed pathogenic disease or germination for all tree seed species and in both forests, where the level of seed loss to predation was greatest in the closed-canopy primary forest, second largest in the tree-fall gaps and less in recovering banana, sugarcane and pasture; (2) for pathogens these trends were reversed; and (3) most seeds, that were not taken by predators or pathogens, germinated. Cecropia sp. seeds in the tree-fall gaps and Otoba gordoniifolia seeds in both closed-canopy forest and tree-fall gaps were the most significantly different among all treatments in primary forest and Solanum ovalifolia seeds in banana fields and Piper aduncum in all fields were the most significantly different among all treatments in secondary forest. I conclude that forests may recover faster after human disturbance (here agriculture) than after natural disturbances (here tree-fall).

Apes are important long-distance dispersers of large seeds in African tropical forests. Seed size and shape are likely to affect the ease of swallowing for an animal species. If an endozoochorous seed is larger than the digestive tract of an animal, the seed cannot be swallowed, and a round seed is more difficult to swallow than an elongated seed of the same length. In order to test if such a correlation exists between the seed size and its shape, we investigated the length and width of chimpanzee-dispersed seeds at the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Among the 14 species of seeds, longer seeds had significantly narrower relative widths, and thus, they were more ovoid. Since the chimpanzee is the largest arboreal frugivore at Mahale, their food selection might have influenced the shape of larger seeds. The chimpanzee's selective consumption of such fruits with longer, elongated seeds may have facilitated the selective dispersal of such plant species in that area.

Soil type may drive vegetation structure. In turn, the richness, identity and diversity of arthropod herbivores may be related to plant diversity through specific host plant relationships in a location. We test the hypothesis that the soil type (calcicolous vs alluvial soils) will drive the assemblage structure of a dominant group of arthropod herbivores: the moths. We used sampling sites in rain-forest fragments in south-western China around the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens (21°41′N, 101°25′E) to test this hypothesis. We used Pennsylvania style light traps to take point samples of macromoths and pyraloids from four sampling sites in forest remnants on a limestone geological base and four from alluvial-based forest. A total of 3165 moths (1739 from limestone-based and 1255 from alluvium-based forests) was collected representing 1255 species. The limestone-based sites showed statistically similar levels of species richness and other alpha diversity indices to the four alluvium-based site. Nevertheless the sites were clearly significantly different in terms of species composition. Analysis of contrasting similarity (‘beta’ diversity) indices suggested that there was ‘leakage’ between the two classes of sites when ‘rare’ species were emphasized in the calculations. We used an indicator value procedure to select species that most characterized this separation. We expect that these differences reflect associated changes in plant assemblage structure acting through the herbivorous habits of larval moths. Accordingly, in any assessment of landscape level diversity the nature of the substrate and its associated vegetation is clearly of great importance. This observation also has consequences for the design of conservation programmes.

A suite of woody plants inhabiting the seasonally dry tropics flower while leafless during the dry season, raising intriguing questions about the role of moisture limitation in shaping their phenology. Brachychiton megaphyllus is one such species, a shrub of open forests and savannas in northern Australia. We documented leaf and reproductive phenology of 14 shrubs, and irrigated a further 15, to determine if soil moisture affected leafiness and reproductive activity. Brachychiton megaphyllus showed first flower buds shortly after the cessation of wet-season rains, and budded and flowered throughout the dry season. In some plants, leaf flush occurred prior to the first rains. Rates of fruit set and maturity were very low. Irrigation did not significantly influence leaf shoot or subsequent canopy development. Contrary to expectation, irrigation decreased the production of buds and flowers though it had no impact on the production of fruit, a response for which we suggest a number of hypotheses. Phenological responses to irrigation may have been limited because B. megaphyllus responds primarily to cues other than soil moisture and is buffered against seasonal drought by a large tap root. This suggests mechanisms by which flowering while leafless may occur in a range of species.

Species showing mast seeding synchronously produce large amounts of fruits during some scattered years. This massive crop has been hypothesized to improve dispersal effectiveness by a satiation of seed predators, but the consequences for seed dispersers have barely been studied in the tropics. We tested the hypothesis that masting resulted in satiation of frugivorous dispersers using the study case of two Manilkara species growing in an Amazonian forest in French Guiana. Seed dispersal was estimated by means of seed traps in two forest types during a 10-y monitoring. Manilkara huberi and M. bidentata showed three fruiting events in a time span of 10 y (in 2001, 2006 and 2010). Estimates of seed dispersal from 2001 and 2010 showed that satiation of frugivores only occurred in the year with the largest crop of Manilkara (2010) and in the habitat where the diversity of primate-dispersed species retrieved in seed traps was the highest (Grand Plateau, with clay soils), while fruit consumers did not seem to be satiated in other instances. Spatio-temporal variability of seed production and the community-crop context are therefore affecting satiation of frugivores during masting events.

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.

Recent advances in tracking technology have revealed significant intratropical movement of Nearctic–Neotropical migratory songbirds during their non-breeding season. We report the movement of 25 veeries (Catharus fuscescens) over multiple seasons (2009–2013) through equatorial rain forests of South America. Veeries initially settled on the Brazilian Shield geological formation but undertook an intratropical migration to a second South American region in January, February or March. Consequently, our study is the first to track individual forest passerines to document an annual migration from the Brazilian Shield to the Guiana Shield and into lowland regions of Amazonia. The movement and settlement patterns showed no spatiotemporal relationships with Nearctic–Neotropical migration, remained in accordance with the flood pulse of the Amazon basin, and were spatially and temporally complex suggesting relatively ancient ancestral origins. The ability to isolate the migration event from Nearctic–Neotropical migration is an important contribution to the ongoing discourse regarding the evolution of trans-hemispheric migration in the genus Catharus.

Daily activity patterns reflect interactions between circadian mechanisms and environmental stimuli. Among these stimuli, temperature can be an important factor affecting activity budgets. To sample the agouti (Dasyprocta azarae), a systematic camera-trap grid was established with 50 independent sampling sites. A circular kernel function was used to characterize the activity patterns of the agouti population. To evaluate shifts in activity as a function of mean daily temperature, the entire set of records was subdivided into smaller sets covering different temperature ranges. The activity pattern belonging to each set was characterized and compared through the overlap of their full activity (95% isopleth) and activity core (50% isopleth). Based on 400 independent records, agoutis were predominately diurnal. They shifted their activity core, while keeping their activity range (the amount of time a population remains active during the 24-h cycle) constant through the temperature gradient. The agouti demonstrated a unimodal activity pattern at lower temperatures, which became more bimodal at higher temperatures. Nevertheless, it kept its activity range constant, regardless of temperature. These results likely reflect a trade-off between activity time and thermoregulation during the diurnal period and demonstrate how the agouti can change its behaviour to achieve thermal comfort.

For birds, we tested the efficacy of a technique used to obtain faecal samples and their seed content from bats by placing plastic sheets below mist nets. This method was compared with that of collecting faecal samples using cotton bags. Plastic sheets were placed below each of eight mist nets to obtain faecal samples from birds caught in cloud forest remnants. Each bird was then placed separately in a cotton bag to catch any other seeds excreted. There were 84 faecal samples in total: 64 with no seeds and 20 with seeds; of the latter 65% were obtained from the plastic sheets. A total of 407 seeds were collected, 317 from 11 plant species were collected on the plastic sheets and 90 belonging to six plant species in the bags. Seed richness and abundance were significantly greater for samples obtained using the plastic sheets than with the cotton bags. Although the number of bird faecal samples obtained did not differ between methods (13 vs 7), with the plastic sheets the number of faecal samples with seeds increased. Thus, to obtain more representative faecal samples from frugivorous birds, we strongly recommend the use of plastic sheets as part of the technique.

Contemporary defaunation of fragmented forests potentially alters patterns of seed predation and dispersal. Alternatively, the remaining fauna may compensate for missing animals, resulting in equivalent rates of seed dispersal and predation. In the Los Tuxtlas region of southern Mexico, populations of large terrestrial fruit-eating mammals are diminished or absent from many forest remnants. This study reports fruit removal and seed predation patterns of Poulsenia armata (Moraceae), in forest fragments and a continuous forest (LTBS). Contrary to expectation, we found no differences in seed predation (mean ± SD) between LTBS (7.2 ± 1.8 seeds per station) and forest fragments (5.6 ± 1.1). However more fruits were removed in the LTBS (11.4 ± 0.9 fruits per station) than in forest fragments (8.1 ± 0.8). Animal activity, recorded by camera traps, differed between animal guild with fewer seed dispersers in forest fragments (mean = 0.43 ± 0.02 photos wk−1) than in the LTBS (mean = 0.68 ± 0.05). Fruits and seeds attracted many species of mammal (n = 12) in both habitats, indicating substantial redundancy. Remnant forest patches in the Los Tuxtlas landscape retain great ecological value, both as refuges for mammals and habitats for trees, such as P. armata.

Mimosa luisana is functionally important in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico, since it is able to create favourable microsites for the establishment of other plant species. The endozoochory of M. luisana seeds by goats was evaluated in terms of excrement deposition pattern, seed survival and germination. The excrement deposition pattern was evaluated by collecting pellets in four plots of 25 × 2 m randomly placed in a grazing area and recording the microhabitat where pellets were found. Seed survival and germination were evaluated by feeding the goats with seeds and collecting dung pellets at 8-h intervals for 80 h. Seeds from goat pellets (treatment) and seeds collected from pods (control) were placed in a germination chamber for 24 d. Goats mainly deposited M. luisana seeds in viable sites (open areas) for growth. Mimosa luisana seeds survived the goat digestive treatment (5.91% ± 2.86%) and most of them (67% ± 25.9%) were recovered 8–32 h after ingestion. Goat gut treatment increased M. luisana final germination (47.5% ingested, 5.83% control) and shortened initial and mean time of germination. Our results indicate that goats may be an efficient disperser of M. luisana seeds.

Balanites maughamii appears to be an obligate elephant-dispersed species. Its fruits are strongly scented and produce a large range of volatiles, particularly aliphatic acids such as hexanoic and isovaleric acid. The seed coat can resist a compression force of >1.5 kN. Seeds removed from the seed coat, and those from compressed seeds or from elephant dung, have better germination than seeds enclosed by undamaged seed-coats, which largely failed to germinate over a 2-mo period. Mastication by elephants may be necessary to split the seed coat to allow germination and the germinant to emerge from the seed coat. We identify four traits of elephant-dispersed fruits; they are dull-coloured, presented on the ground, strongly scented and have exceptionally strong seed coats.

This study compared the life histories of Hemidactylus frenatus, a significant invasive gecko, and Phyllodactylus palmeus, a Honduran endemic, over 10 wk, June–August 2013 at 12 study sites on the Honduran island of Cayo Menor of the Cayo Cochinos archipelago where H. frenatus arrived in 2008. Three different life-history traits related to invasion success were measured: body size, fecundity and population size. During the study 140 natives and 37 non-natives were captured, weighed, measured and marked uniquely. The number of gravid females and number of eggs were also recorded. Phyllodactylus palmeus was the significantly larger of the two species (60% larger mass, 25% longer SVL) and had higher population abundance at all 12 study sites with some sites yielding no H. frenatus individuals. However, H. frenatus had a larger proportion of gravid females. Observations that the native species is more common despite being sympatric with a known aggressive invader suggest two possibilities: the island is at the start of an invasion, or that the two species co-exist in a more stable fashion.

The Winkler extractor is widely used for collecting both micro- and macrofauna from large samples of forest litter, but the long period of extraction that it demands and that allows continuous feeding and reproduction of target organisms is a serious drawback when samples are collected for subsequent stable isotope analysis. This problem is exacerbated in a humid tropical climate. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of the modified Winkler apparatus equipped with heating plates placed inside each mesh bag. The study was performed at the end of the wet season in a mature forest and young forest plantation at Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam. The heating plates increased the temperature within the extractors by about 8ºC and accelerated the desiccation of litter in the mesh bags. The extraction speed of macrofauna from the forest litter was strongly increased and the number of mites collected nearly doubled in the modified extractors, though the extraction rates of collembolans were not affected significantly. Overall, our results suggest that the application of heating plates accelerates the extraction process while yielding large quantities of litter-dwelling animals.

Lepidopteran caterpillars are typically classified as herbivorous insects. Other feeding associations have been known for a long time but are often neglected in the ecological literature. In samples from 194 shrubs belonging to 16 species of Piperaceae and Asteraceae, which were taken in a montane forest and succession habitats in southern Ecuador, caterpillar assemblages included an unexpectedly large fraction not feeding on the living biomass of their putative ‘host’. Feeding trials revealed them to instead feed on foliose lichens, dead leaves and epiphylls (lichen, algae, bryophytes). These ‘alternative feeders’ accounted for 22.5% of the whole dataset and up to 80% of the caterpillars on individual plant species. Densities of alternative feeders were very similar across shrub species within each plant family, but differed strongly between Asteraceae in succession and Piperaceae in forest habitats. Herbivore caterpillars showed the opposite pattern with strong differences between individual plant species, but overall similar densities on both plant families.

The effective floral neighbourhood is the radius around a plant where the density of flowering plants and other factors affect visitation rates and pollination success of plants. This study aims to determine this radius and focuses on the effects of conspecific plant density, plant sex and the amount of shrub vegetation on visitation rates of Clusia blattophila, a dioecious bush pollinated by Amazonina platystylata cockroaches. The number of visits did not differ between flower sexes but cockroaches spent less time on the rewardless female flowers. The density effect was scale dependent. The distribution of flowering individuals within the 15-m radius had a significant positive effect on flower visitation rates. At a larger scale (35–45-m radius), an increase in density of male plants led to a decrease in visitation rates, indicating competition for pollinators. Within the smaller radius, the facilitative effect was probably induced by elevated floral advertisement and high mobility of cockroaches at this scale. Within the larger radii, the results indicated that cockroach mobility was restricted and population density was stable at this scale. Density of male plants affected visitation rates because only male plants reward pollinators. Hence, male plants were the true competitors.