Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Arthropod Diversity in Lama Forest Reserve (South Benin), a Mosaic of Natural, Degraded and Plantation Forests

  • Published:
Biodiversity & Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Arthropod assemblages were examined in Lama forest reserve, a protected area situated in the Dahomey gap, southern Benin, composed of plantations, degraded forest and remnants of natural forest. The objectives were to compare assemblages in relation to forest type and use, to elucidate the value of forest plantations for biodiversity conservation and to identify indicator species for specific forest habitats. Arthropods were collected over an 11-month period, using standardized sets of traps (pitfall, emergence, Malaise and flight intercept traps). Nine different habitats were studied, including natural and degraded forest, forest plantations (Tectona grandis and Senna siamea) of different age, and isolated forest fragments. Our analysis focused on detritivorous and xylophagous arthropods but also included ground beetles and heteropterans, totalling 393 species. We found no differences in species richness among natural and degraded forest habitats in the centre of the reserve (Noyau central). Outside of the Noyau central, species richness was highest in old teak plantations and isolated forest fragments and lowest in young teak and fuelwood plantations. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) separated three main groups: (1) natural forest, (2) degraded forest and young plantations, and (3) old plantations and isolated forest fragments. Multiple regression of DCA scores of the first two axes on environmental variables identified one natural and three disturbance-related predictors of arthropod assemblages in Lama forest: soil type (texture), canopy height, naturalness (proportion of Guineo-Congolian plant species) and understorey vegetation cover. We identified 15 indicator species for six different forest habitats. The highest numbers were found in abandoned settlements and old teak plantations. β-diversity was similar among the three DCA ordination groups (degraded forest excluded). Values for β-diversity were relatively high, suggesting that all major forest habitats contribute significantly to regional species pools and should therefore be protected. To enhance arthropod diversity, we propose that management practices in Lama forest should aim to encourage the development of species-rich understorey vegetation of the Guineo-Congolian phytogeographical region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • P.L. Angermeier (1999) ArticleTitleThe natural imperative for biological conservation Conserv. Biol. 14 373–381

    Google Scholar 

  • P.M.S. Ashton C.V.S. Gunatilleke I.A.U.N. Gunatilleke (1993) A shelterwood method of regeneration for sustained timber production in Mesua-Shorea forest of Southwest Sri Lanka W. Erdelen C. Preu C.M. Ishwaran M. Bandara (Eds) Ecology and Landscape Management in Sri Lanka Margraf Verlag Weikersheim 255–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Attignon S.E., Weibel D., Lachat T., Sinsin B., Nagel P., Peveling R. 2004. Leaf litter breakdown in natural and plantation forests of the Lama forest reserve in Benin. Appl. Soil Ecol. in press.

  • A. Ballouche A. Akoègninou K. Neumann U. Salzmann M.A. Sowunmi (2000) ArticleTitleLe projet ’Dahomey Gap: une contribution à l’histoire de la végétation au Sud-Bénin et Sud-Ouest du Nigeria Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs 268 237–251

    Google Scholar 

  • O. Barbosa P.A. Marquet (2001) ArticleTitleEffects of forest fragmentation on the beetle assemblage at the relict forest of Fray JorgeChile Oecologia 132 296–306

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Chao M.-C. Ma M.C.K. Yang (1993) ArticleTitleStopping rules and estimation for recapture debugging with unequal failure rates Biometrica 80 193–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Colwell R.K. 1997. EstimateS: Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples. http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates.

  • A.J. Davis J.D. Holloway H. Huijbregts J. Krikken A.H. Kirk-Spriggs S.L. Sutton (2001) ArticleTitleDung beetles as indicators of change in the forests of northern Borneo J. Appl. Ecol. 38 593–616 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2664.2001.00619.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • I. Deshmukh (1986) Ecology and Tropical Biology Blackwell Scientific Publications Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • R.K. Didham J. Ghazoul N.E. Stork A.J. Davis (1996) ArticleTitleInsects in fragmented forests: a functional approach Tree 11 255–260

    Google Scholar 

  • R.K. Didham P.M. Hammond J.H. Lawton P. Eggleton N.E. Stork (1998) ArticleTitleBeetle species responses to tropical forest fragmentation Ecol. Monogr. 68 295–323

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Duelli M.K. Obrist (1998) ArticleTitleIn search of the best correlates for local organismal biodiversity in cultivated areas Biodiv. Conserv. 7 297–309

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Dufrêne P. Legendre (1997) ArticleTitleSpecies assemblages and indicator species: the need of a flexible asymmetrical approach Ecol. Monogr. 67 345–366

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Eggleton D.E. Bignell S. Hauser L. Dibog L. Norgrove B. Madong (2002) ArticleTitleTermite diversity across an anthropogenic disturbance gradient in the humid forest zone of West Africa Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 90 189–202 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0167-8809(01)00206-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Elliott D. Blakesley V. Anusaransunthron (1998) Forests for the Future – Growing and Planting Native Trees for Restoring Forest Ecosystems Forest Restoration Research Unit. Chiang Mai University Chiang Mai

    Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameFAO (2000) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 Main report Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. 2001. State of the World’s Forests 2001. Rome.

  • FAO-UNESCO. 1974. Map of the World. Paris.

  • H. Fermon C.H. Schulze M. Waltert M. Mühlenberg (2001) ArticleTitleThe butterfly fauna of the Noyau centralLama Forest (Republic of Benin), with notes on its ecological composition and geographic distribution Afr. Entomol. 9 177–185

    Google Scholar 

  • B.S.V. Gemerden G.N. Shu H. Olff (2003) ArticleTitleRecovery of conservation values in Central African rain forest after logging and shifting cultivation Biodiv. Conserv. 12 1553–1570

    Google Scholar 

  • M.D. Giulio P.J. Edwards E. Meister (2001) ArticleTitleEnhancing insects in agricultural grasslands: the roles of management and landscape structure J. Appl. Ecol. 38 310–319

    Google Scholar 

  • S.M. Goodman D. Rakotondravony G. Schatz L. Wilmé (1996) ArticleTitleSpecies richness of forest-dwelling birds, rodents and insectivores in a planted forest of native trees: a test case from AnkaratraMadagascar Ecotropica 2 109–120

    Google Scholar 

  • C.J. Hill (1995) ArticleTitleLinear strips of rain forest vegetation as potential dispersal corridors for rain forest insects Conserv. Biol. 9 1559–1566 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09061559.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M.O. Hill H.G.J. Gauch (1980) ArticleTitleDetrended correspondance analysis: an improved ordination technique Vegetatio 42 47–58 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00048870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holloway J.D., Kirk-Spriggs A.H. and Khen C.V. 1992. The response of some rain forest insect groups to logging and conversion to plantation. In: Marshall A.G. and Swaine M.D. (eds), Tropical Rain Forest: Disturbance and Recovery. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B. 335: 425–436.

  • R.I. Jennrich F.B. Turner (1969) ArticleTitleMeasurement of non-circular home range J. Theor. Biol. 22 227–237 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0022-5193(69)90002-2 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:CCaB3czjtFY%3D Occurrence Handle5783911

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • K.A.B. Kalif C. Azevedo-Ramos P. Moutinho S.A.O. Malcher (2001) ArticleTitleThe effect of logging on the ground-foraging ant community in eastern Amazonia Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 36 1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • V. Kapos (1989) ArticleTitleEffects of isolation on the water status of forest patches in the Brazilian Amazon J. Trop. Ecol. 5 173–185

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Klein (1989) ArticleTitleEffects of forest fragmentation on dung and carrion beetle communities in central Amazonia Ecology 70 1715–1725

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Lamb (1998) ArticleTitleLarge-scale ecological restoration of degraded tropical forest lands: the potential role of timber plantations Restor. Ecol. 6 271–279 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1526-100X.1998.00632.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W.F. Laurance T.E. Lovejoy H.L. Vasconcelos E.M. Bruna R.K. Didham P.C. Stouffer C. Gascon R.O. Bierregaard S.G. Laurance E. Sampaio (2002) ArticleTitleEcosystem decay of Amazonian forest fragments: a 22-year investigation Conserv. Biol. 16 605–618 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.01025.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.H. Lawton D.E. Bignell B. Bolton G.F. Bloemers P. Eggleton P.M. Hammond M. Hodda R.D. Holt T.B. Larsen N.A. Mawdsley N.E. Stork D.S. Srivastava A.D. Watt (1998) ArticleTitleBiodiversity inventories, indicator taxa and effects of habitat modification in tropical forest Nature 391 72–76 Occurrence Handle10.1038/34166 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXjvFansg%3D%3D

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • S.-M. Lee A. Chao (1994) ArticleTitleEstimating population size via sample coverage for closed capture-recapture models Biometrics 50 88–97

    Google Scholar 

  • N. Mantel (1967) ArticleTitleThe detection of disease clustering and a generalized regression approach Cancer Res. 27 209–221 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:CCiD1MzgsVY%3D Occurrence Handle6018555

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • B. McCune M.J. Mefford (1999) PC-ORD: Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data MjM Software Design Gleneden Beach, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Mühlenberg (1993) Freilandökologie. UTB für Wissenschaft Quelle und Meyer Heidelberg Wiesbach

    Google Scholar 

  • N. Myers R.A. Mittermeier C.G. Mittermeier G.A.B. d. Fonseca J. Kent (2000) ArticleTitleBiodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities Nature 403 853–858 Occurrence Handle10.1038/35002501 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXhs1Olsr4%3D Occurrence Handle10706275

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • T.R. New (1998) Invertebrate Surveys for Conservation Oxford Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Nummelin I. Hanski (1989) ArticleTitleDung beetles of the Kibale ForestUganda; comparison between virgin and managed forests J. Trop. Ecol. 5 349–352

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Rainio J. Niemelä (2003) ArticleTitleGround beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as bioindicators Biodiv. Conserv. 12 487–506

    Google Scholar 

  • J.A. Sayer C.S. Harcourt N.M. Collins (1992) The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests. Africa IUCN New York

    Google Scholar 

  • T.R.E. Southwood (1978) Ecological Methods: with Particular Reference to the Study of Insect Population Chapman and Hall London, New-York

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Specht (2002) La forêt de la LamaBénin–SIG basé sur Landsat 7. Opuscula Biogeographica Basileensia 2 Basel Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • M.R. Speight F.R. Wylie (2001) Insect Pests in Tropical Forestry CABI Publishing Oxford, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  • N.L. Stanton (1979) ArticleTitlePatterns of species diversity in the temperate and tropical litter mites Ecology 60 295–304

    Google Scholar 

  • N.E. Stork D.S. Srivastava A.D. Watt T.B. Larsen (2003) ArticleTitleButterfly diversity and silvicultural practice in lowland rainforests of Cameroon Biodiv. Conserv. 12 387–410

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Townes (1972) ArticleTitleA light-weight malaise trap Entomol. News 83 239–247

    Google Scholar 

  • N. Tucker T. Murphy (1997) ArticleTitleThe effect of ecological rehabilitation on vegetation recruitment: some observations from the wet tropics of North Queensland Forest Ecol. Manage. 99 133–152

    Google Scholar 

  • H.L. Vasconcelos J.M.S. Vilhena G.J.A. Caliri (2000) ArticleTitleResponses of ants to selective logging of a central Amazonian forest J. Appl. Ecol. 37 508–514 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2664.2000.00512.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.D. Watt N.E. Stork C. McBeeath G.L. Lawson (1997) ArticleTitleImpact of forest management on insect abundance and damage in a lowland tropical forest in southern Cameroon J. Appl. Ecol. 34 985–998

    Google Scholar 

  • F. White (1983) The Vegetation of Africa UNESCO Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • A.J. Wilkening J.L. Foltz T.H. Atkinson M.D. Connor (1981) ArticleTitleAn omnidirectional flight trap for ascending and descending insects Can. Entomol. 113 453–455

    Google Scholar 

  • R.H. Whittaker (1960) ArticleTitleVegetation of the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon and California Ecol. Monogr. 30 279–338

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Zapfack S. Engwald B. Sonke G. Achoundong B.A. Madong (2002) ArticleTitleThe impact of land conversion on plant biodiversity in the forest zone of Cameroon Biodiv. Conserv. 11 2047–2061

    Google Scholar 

  • J.H. Zar (1999) Biostatistical Analysis Pearson Education New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Natur-, Landschafts- und Umweltschutz (NLU) – Biogeographie, Universität Basel, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 10, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Thibault Lachat, Serge Attignon, Peter Nagel & Ralf Peveling

  2. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques (FSA), Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin

    Serge Attignon, Julien Djego & Brice Sinsin

  3. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Biodiversity Centre, Cotonou, Benin

    Georg Goergen

Authors
  1. Thibault Lachat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Serge Attignon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Julien Djego
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Georg Goergen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Peter Nagel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Brice Sinsin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ralf Peveling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thibault Lachat.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lachat, T., Attignon, S., Djego, J. et al. Arthropod Diversity in Lama Forest Reserve (South Benin), a Mosaic of Natural, Degraded and Plantation Forests. Biodivers Conserv 15, 3–23 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-1234-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-1234-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation