Abstract

RIVAS-ARANCIBIA, Sombra Patricia et al. Community of floral visitors variations of Bursera copallifera (Burseraceae) through an anthropogenic disturbance gradient. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2015, vol.86, n.1, pp.178-187. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.44620.

The change in environmental conditions and the level of anthropogenic disturbance affect the communities of floral visitors. Therefore, the community of floral visitors of Bursera copallifera in Jolalpan, Puebla, Mexico was identified and characterized, considering changes in some environmental variables (temperature, humidity and altitude) and the factors associated with a disturbance gradient. A multivariate quantitative index was used in order to calculate the disturbance in 13 zones of the locality. Three sites with different levels of disturbance were selected, and in each one, the floral visitors were collected. A total of 66 species were collected, belonging to 25 families, distributed in 5 insect orders. Hymenoptera and Coleoptera were the most abundant orders. Temperature and humidity were significantly different among hours and sites, and together with the disturbance factors, affected the community floral visitors structure and dynamics. The high-disturbance site had the lowest diversity, but the highest insect abundance. Apis mellifera was the most abundant species at the most disturbed site, but the disturbance effect was not clearly established due to the altitude variations among sites. The high diversity of insects found showed the importance of Bursera copallifera for this kind of ecosystems.

Keywords : Abundance; Apis mellifera; Diversity; Indicator species; Insect community; Insect visitors.

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