Species richness and resource availability: a phylogenetic analysis of insects associated with trees

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 96; no. 14; pp. 8013 - 8016
• Main Authors: Kelly, C.K, Southwood, T.R.E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 06.07.1999; National Acad Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Auchenorrhyncha; Biological Sciences; Biological taxonomies; community ecology; forest trees; Homoptera; Hymenoptera; insect communities; Insect ecology; Introduced species; Lepidoptera; Phylogenetics; phylogeny; Phytophagous insects; Plant insect relations; Population ecology; Regression analysis; Resource availability; species diversity; Sternorrhyncha; Symphyta; Taxa; England
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.14.8013

The data on the number of species of insects associated with various trees in Britain have been reanalyzed to factor out possible bias from phylogenetic effects. It was found that tree availability (range and abundance) continues to provide a good predictor (r = 0.852) of insect-species richness, slightly better than straightforward cross-species analyses. Of the two components of tree availability, tree abundance gives a much better prediction than tree range. The species richness on trees of major taxa with similar trophic habits (Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera/Symphyta and the two suborders of the Homoptera--Auchenorrhyncha and Sternorrhyncha) shows positive correlations; there is thus no evidence of competitive exclusion at this taxonomic level.