Leaf-litter insects at Amani Nature Reserve, Tanzania: A comparative analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Postal Code 11115, Sudan.

2 Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

3 Birdlife International Liberia

4 Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum

Abstract

Within a forest, the spatial variation in leaf litter composition is expected to affect both the density and diversity of leaf litter insects. In this study, a comparison of insect community structure in the leaf litter has been conducted between three habitats at Amani Nature Reserve: Bamboo shrubs (Bambuseae), gum trees (Eucalyptus sp.) and camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora). A total number of 1919 individuals were collected from pitfall traps and 658 species from quadrate plots. Collected specimens were found to represent 8 different orders: Blattodea, Coleoptera, Collembolan, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenopter, Orthoptera and Thysanura. Diptera had the highest abundance in the overall collection. Statistical analysis did not detect a significant difference in insect composition between the three leaf litter habitats. Likewise, the depth of litter material had no significant influence on insect composition. Furthermore, no significant difference in insect composition was detected between day and night collections. Overall, these results suggest that the community of leaf litter insects at Amani Nature Reserve is characterized by considerable stability against spatial and temporal environmental fluctuations.

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