Body size of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera, Insecta) in areas with different levels of conservation in South Brazil

Adelita Linzmeier,Cibele S Ribeiro-Costa

doi:10.3897/zookeys.157.1083

Abstract

Body size is correlated with many species traits such as morphology, physiology, life history and abundance as well; it is one of the most discussed topics in macroecological studies. The aim of this paper was to analyze the body size distribution of Chrysomelidae, caught with Malaise traps during two years in four areas with different levels of conservation in the Araucaria Forest, Paraná, Brazil, determining if body size is a good predictor of abundance, and if body size could be used to indicate environmental quality. Body size was considered the total length of the specimen from the anterior region of head to the apex of abdomen/elytron. Measurements were taken for up to ten specimens of each species for each area and for all specimens of those species represented by fewer than ten individuals. The highest abundance and richness of Chrysomelidae were obtained in the lowest body size classes. This herbivorous group showed a trend toward a decrease in body size with increasing abundance, but body size was not a good predictor of its abundance. There was a trend toward a decrease in body size from the less to the most conserved areas; however, the definition of a pattern in successional areas not seems to be entirely clear.

Highlights

Potential ecological relationships between body size and structure of animal communities have been one of main focuses in ecological studies (Braun et al 2004)
The data came from the project Vila Velha (PROVIVE), which was developed in the Parque Estadual of Vila Velha (25°13'5.0"S; 50°2'26.9"W)
The Chrysomelidae size class histogram showed a tendency toward a decrease in abundance with increase in body size (Fig. 1), where the pattern of Chrysomelidae distribution of abundance was a polygonal type with a tail to the right

Summary

Introduction

Potential ecological relationships between body size and structure of animal communities have been one of main focuses in ecological studies (Braun et al 2004). Body size is correlated with many morphologic, physiologic, behavioral and ecologic traits, such as dispersal capacity, metabolic and digestive efficiency, reproduction rate, and generation time, as well as species abundance (Siemann et al 1999, Brown 2003, White et al 2007). The relationship between body size and abundance is an essential link between individual and population level traits and the structure and dynamics of ecological communities (Woodward et al 2005). According to White et al (2007), there are four distinct, but interrelated, relationships between body size and abundance, which are generated by different combinations of processes and routinely confused. The relationships are: i) local size-density relationships which reflect processes influencing resource allocation among species; ii) individual size distributions which result from processes governing the distribution of individual sizes; iii) cross-community scaling relationships which are generated by general constraints, such as resource limitation, on the community as a whole; and iv) global size-density relationships which reflect ecological and evolutionary processes on large spatio-temporal scales

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