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Low-Cost Automated Flight Intercept Trap for the Temporal Sub-Sampling of Flying Insects Attracted to Artificial Light at Night
Published on: December 29, 2021
Forest canopy insects are safer from predators in the tropics than at higher latitudes
Katerina Sam1,2, Elise Sivault3,4, Sara Fernandez Garzon3,4
1Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. katerina.sam.cz@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Theory suggests that predation pressure decreases with latitude. To test this hypothesis, we studied predation for insect on forest understory and canopy vegetation using six canopy cranes across a latitudinal gradient (51°N to 34°S). We find contrasting predation patterns: predation is highest in the canopy at high latitudes, whereas it decreases towards low latitudes, where it is more pronounced in the understory. These differential latitudinal trends are driven by shifts in the relative roles of bird and arthropod predators, alongside variations in natural prey abundance. Our findings highlight how predator-prey dynamics differ across forest strata and challenge assumptions about latitudinal predation gradients.
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