Differential distribution of Jatrophobia brasiliensis (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) on Manihot caerulenses (Euphorbiaceae) in edge and interior environments in a cerrado in Brazil
Araújo, Walter Santos deOliveira, Bruno MaiaGonçalves, Priscila SantosSilveira, Luana TeixeiraFreitas, Érica Vanessa Durães de
In the present study we tested whether the distribution of insect galls induced by Jatrophobia brasiliensis (Rübsaamen, 1907) (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) on Manihot caerulenses (Euphorbiaceae) differs between edge and interior environments in a Neotropical savanna in Brazil. We tested the hypothesis that the abundance of galls is higher in the vegetation edge, which is exposed to constant dust from an unpaved road, than in the interior of the savanna, where the penetration of dust is smaller. The study was in the Parque Estadual da Serra do Cabral where 28 plants were sampled, being selected 14 plants inside the vegetation and 14 plants on the road edge. We sampled a total of 269 galls of Jatrophobia brasiliensis, being 203 galls on edge plants and 66 galls on interior plants. Corroborating our expectation, we registered a higher number of insect galls on the edge plants than interior plants. We suggest that dust is the main stressor in border environments of Neotropical savannas, unlike forest vegetation, where microclimatic changes can be more important. Our findings suggest that the environmental changes caused by dust deposition in the edge affect the distribution of insect galls in Neotropical savannas.(AU)
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