Preface

Chapter 7 **A Re-Examination of the Validity of the "Separative and Exclusive Conservation Model": Insights from an Ethnobiological Study in Maluku, East Indonesia 141**

Chapter 8 **Physicochemistry and Utilization of Wood Vinegar from Carbonization of Tropical Biomass Waste 163**

Yongyuth Theapparat, Ausa Chandumpai and Damrongsak

Masatoshi Sasaoka

**VI** Contents

Faroongsarng

Tropical forests occupy only one-tenth of the world's land area but are home to more than half of the world's flora and fauna. They comprise extremely complex labyrinth of ecological interactions. In the last few decades, their astounding richness and biodiversity are rapidly dwindling as they are deforested, fragmented, burned, logged, and converted to agricultural lands and pastures, and their forest products are being indiscriminately extracted at an alarming rate. The destruction of plants, animals, soil, and ultimately the global biodiversi‐ ty, due to the clearance of these tropical forests, has not been taken into account.

There is a fear that the burgeoning human population and industrialization of developing countries, where a majority of these tropical forests are found, may lead to the clearing or modification or may be a complete disappearance of the remaining tropical forests within few decades. Of the 25 "hot spots" that are identified across the globe, 19 have human populations growing more rapidly than ever across the earth's surface. Vital biogeochemical cycles of car‐ bon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and so on have been severely altered and have led to the change in global climate and pristine natural ecosystems. Hence, there is an urgent need to protect, re‐ store, conserve, and improve the forest resources before they are irrevocably lost.

In this second edition of the book *Tropical Forests*, the chapters differ noticeably in the geo‐ graphic focus, diverse ecosystems, time, and approach; they share the above issues and help in understanding, educating, and creating awareness on the role of "tropical forests" for the very survival of mankind, climate change, and the diversity of biota across the globe. We truly believe that the readers will appreciate the contributions each of the researchers has made and will recognize the value of each chapter. We also hope that this book will be of great use to students, scientists, ecologists, population and conservation biologists, and for‐ est managers across the globe.

> **Dr. Padmini Sudarshana** Monsanto Research Center Hebbal, Bangalore, India

**Dr. Madhugiri Nageswara-Rao** Department of Biology New Mexico State University, USA

**Dr. Jaya R. Soneji** Department of Entomology Plant Pathology and Weed Science New Mexico State University, USA

**Chapter 1**

Provisional chapter

. Arthropod abundance did not

**Physicochemical Foliar Traits Predict Assemblages of**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.75076

Plant functional traits influence the decomposition of their own residues occurring underneath individual plant species. Arthropods associated to litter are critical components influencing decomposition. Nevertheless, few studies have established a direct relation between plant traits and belowground arthropods. To address this relation at the individual plant species scale, this study was conducted in the Guánica dry forest, Puerto Rico, by selecting five tree species and ten isolated trees/species where variations due to neighbor trees are reduced. Mature green leaves, litter, and associated arthropods were sampled from November 2004 through September 2005. Collected arthropods were counted and

differ among plant species, but richness, and species and trophic composition were different among the plant species. Predators, omnivores, and sucking herbivores showed a similar species composition among plant species, while detritivore was the only trophic groups with a different species composition among plants. These results are further supported by canonical correspondence analysis results showing that detritivore arthropod species composition covaries with the physicochemical characteristics of mature green leaves of plants. These findings support that the plant idiosyncratic characteristics

affect the structure of litter/humus arthropods up to the first consumer level.

Keywords: CCA, detritivore, Guánica dry forest, NMS, plant functional traits, litter

Idiosyncratic effects of plants (groups of characteristics of individual species or groups of species) are postulated to have a large impact on ecosystem processes occurring underneath

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Physicochemical Foliar Traits Predict Assemblages of

**Litter/Humus Detritivore Arthropods**

Litter/Humus Detritivore Arthropods

Maria Fernanda Barberena-Arias and Elvira Cuevas

classified, and abundances were standardized to ind/m<sup>2</sup>

Maria Fernanda Barberena-Arias and Elvira Cuevas

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75076

Abstract

arthropods

1. Introduction

#### **Physicochemical Foliar Traits Predict Assemblages of Litter/Humus Detritivore Arthropods** Physicochemical Foliar Traits Predict Assemblages of Litter/Humus Detritivore Arthropods

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.75076

Maria Fernanda Barberena-Arias and Elvira Cuevas Maria Fernanda Barberena-Arias and Elvira Cuevas

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75076

#### Abstract

Plant functional traits influence the decomposition of their own residues occurring underneath individual plant species. Arthropods associated to litter are critical components influencing decomposition. Nevertheless, few studies have established a direct relation between plant traits and belowground arthropods. To address this relation at the individual plant species scale, this study was conducted in the Guánica dry forest, Puerto Rico, by selecting five tree species and ten isolated trees/species where variations due to neighbor trees are reduced. Mature green leaves, litter, and associated arthropods were sampled from November 2004 through September 2005. Collected arthropods were counted and classified, and abundances were standardized to ind/m<sup>2</sup> . Arthropod abundance did not differ among plant species, but richness, and species and trophic composition were different among the plant species. Predators, omnivores, and sucking herbivores showed a similar species composition among plant species, while detritivore was the only trophic groups with a different species composition among plants. These results are further supported by canonical correspondence analysis results showing that detritivore arthropod species composition covaries with the physicochemical characteristics of mature green leaves of plants. These findings support that the plant idiosyncratic characteristics affect the structure of litter/humus arthropods up to the first consumer level.

Keywords: CCA, detritivore, Guánica dry forest, NMS, plant functional traits, litter arthropods

## 1. Introduction

Idiosyncratic effects of plants (groups of characteristics of individual species or groups of species) are postulated to have a large impact on ecosystem processes occurring underneath

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

the individual plant species [1, 2]. Plants affect belowground dynamics through net primary productivity and quality of resources [3]; for example, litter decomposition rates were predicted by green leaf chemistry and toughness [4], nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability in the soil was affected by plant species [5], and soil N transformation rates were higher under Acomastylis rossii than under Deschampsia cespitosa. These data suggest that the distribution of tree species, within and among stands, results in a patchy distribution of litter and therefore in variations in decomposition, nutrients, and associated decomposer organisms [3, 6].

2. Materials and methods

the ground is exposed to rocks.

represent the sampling units.

2.3. Tree species characterization

2.2. Data collection

The study was conducted in the Guánica dry forest (17�57<sup>0</sup>

Puerto Rico. This forest was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981 because of its extension, high plant diversity, and high occurrence of endemism and habitat for endangered organisms [15]. This forest occurs on limestone [16] where the calcareous rock has low water retention ability and pH ~ 7; the excess calcium in combination with water limitation immobilizes the available phosphorus [17, 18]. The mean annual rainfall is 869 mm (range 288–1348 mm) with a major dry period that runs from December to April [16], but the monthly distribution of the rain is highly erratic [18]. For the study period, the total accumulated rainfall was 1575 mm that was distributed as 480 mm for the wet 2004 season, 120 mm for the dry 2005 season, and 975 mm for the wet 2005 season [19, 20]. The specific study site was located in the coastal vegetation association that is an open forest with dwarf trees, and

In the coastal plateau, five representative tree species were selected. The species were Coccoloba uvifera and Conocarpus erectus only present in the coastal plateau and Ficus citrifolia, Pisonia albida, and Tabebuia heterophylla species present from the coast to the upper ridges in the forest. Ten trees belonging to each of the five species were selected for a total of 50 trees, which

Each tree was characterized for leaf toughness and C, N, and P contents. Leaf toughness was measured in 20 adult leaves/tree by using a punchameter Chatillon® 516 Push/Pull Gauge. Toughness is the force necessary to punch a 3 mm hole through the leaf [21, 22]. Each leaf was pierced once and in areas avoiding leaf nerves and away from the leaf border. These data give an index of toughness and the units are in newton (N). C, N, and P were measured in green leaves. For each tree/species, we collected fully expanded adult leaves that were oven dried at 65�C for 1 week. Leaves from the same tree were pooled, ground, and sieved to 1 mm (18 mesh). Total C analyses were done at the laboratory of the International Institute for Tropical Forestry (IITF), in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Total N and P content assessments were done at the Plant Ecophysiology Laboratory of the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), in Caracas, Venezuela. For C, digestion was done by using a modified version of the Huang and Schulte methodology [23], concentration of total C was determined by the dry combustion method using a CNS analyzer Leco® CNS-2000, and then total C was determined by individual IR (infrared) detectors. For N, samples were digested with sulfuric acid and selenium as catalyst at 350�C for 2 h, and then N was determined with the micro-Kjeldahl

56"N, 66�52<sup>0</sup>

Physicochemical Foliar Traits Predict Assemblages of Litter/Humus Detritivore Arthropods

45"W), southwestern

3

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75076

2.1. Study site

Arthropods associated to litter are critical components that influence decomposition dynamics [7–9]. This fauna responds to variations in litter quality and quantity as a result of changes in plant species identity. For example, mesostigmatid and prostigmatid mites and other microarthropods were more abundant in aspen leaves than in pine needles [10]. Also, the abundance of bacteria, fungi, and invertebrates was higher in quaking aspen stands than in red pine or white spruce stands [11]. Wardle and Lavelle [6] found that Amazonian endogeic earthworms were abundant under Qualea trees and completely absent under Dicorynia guianensis trees. In Puerto Rico, González and Zou [12] found that the density of anecic earthworms was higher in areas that were afar from Heliconia caribaea trees and similarly abundant in areas close and afar from Dacryodes excelsa trees. Furthermore, the chemistry of litter has been shown to differentially affect decomposer organisms; for example, high polyphenol inhibited microbial growth [13], and high tannin concentrations in Quercus ilex were toxic for two collembolan species [14].

Although plant species have been shown to influence belowground dynamics, and litter has been shown to influence associated fauna, few studies have established a direct relation between green leaf chemistry and the belowground arthropods in order to address how plant idiosyncratic effects differently influence the litter arthropod fauna diversity. There is a lack of information on how components of arthropod diversity (i.e., abundance, richness, species, as well as trophic composition) differently respond to these idiosyncratic effects. There is also a scarcity of studies at the individual plant species scale where neighbor tree effects are reduced. To accurately describe how plant species influence belowground arthropod diversity, isolated trees provide an excellent opportunity because the effects introduced by neighbor trees are reduced. The Guánica forest is a relict of dry forest located on the southwest extreme of the island of Puerto Rico. In this forest, the vegetation growing in the coastal plateau is an open forest with dwarf trees, and vegetation is interspersed between rocks preventing the overlap of trees, therefore creating monospecific islands. These characteristics make this an ideal system to study singletree effects in complete isolation, i.e., arthropods associated to organic matter under single trees belonging to five tree species. We hypothesize that arthropod abundance, richness, as well as species composition will be different among tree species, but trophic composition will be similar because plant species vary in their chemical and morphological characteristics of the litter they produce. Therefore, we expect that plant species will have sets of different associated litter arthropods, although the trophic groups that these arthropods represent will be similar.
