Arthropods and other biota associated with the Azorean trees and shrubs: Laurusazorica (Seub) Franco (Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Laurales, Lauraceae)

Abstract

This study explores the composition and structure of species communities associated with the native Azorean tree species Laurusazorica (Seub) Franco (Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Laurales, Lauraceae). Communities were sampled in six Islands covering the occidental (Flores), central (Faial, Pico, Terceira) and eastern (São Miguel, Santa Maria) groups of Azores Archipelago during the BALA project, using standardised sampling protocols for surveying canopy arthropod fauna. In addition, the study characterises the distribution of species regarding their colonisation status and feeding modes and, finally, compares communities of different Islands. Ninety-four arthropod species totalling 10,313 specimens were collected on L.azorica. The Arthropod community was dominated by Hemiptera species, most of them being herbivores. Endemic and native species showed a very high abundance representing about 94% of the total species abundance. However, despite introduced species being represented by few individuals (6% of the total abundance), their diversity was remarkable (28 species and no significant difference with diversity found in endemic and native species communities). Analysis of rarity patterns revealed a stable community of endemic species (alpha gambin SAD model approaching a log-normal shape), intermediate stable community of native species (alpha SAD gambin model approaching a poisson log-normal) and a less stable community of introduced species (alpha SAD gambin model approaching a log-series shape). A dissimilarity analysis revealed high similarity between communities of Terceira and Pico and high dissimilarity between Flores and Faial communities. We observed a clear individualisation of the different islands when considering endemic species, whereas we observed high overlap when considering native and introduced species groups. Canopy community distribution confirms the results obtained in a previous study which suggest the stability of native and endemic arthropods species communities over introduced species community in native forests fragments. Arthropod species were richer than bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants species. We found that L.azorica serve as the substrate for very few vascular plants species (four epiphytes species), which were present in all Islands, except Elaphoglossumsemicylindricum, which does not occur in Santa Maria. L.azorica shelters a significant number of bryophytes and lichens species. Thirty-two lichens and 92 bryophyte species, including 57 liverworts and 35 mosses, are referred to this phorophyte. Five bryophyte species, all Azorean endemics, are considered Endangered by IUCN Criteria. L.azorica harbours a poor community of epiphyte vascular plant species and all of them were ferns, but the community of bryophytes and lichens are not negligible although very low compared to the community found on other previously studied Azorean trees, the Azorean cedar Juniperusbrevifolia. The present study shows that most islands present particular species distribution patterns without geographical correlation and that conservation programmes should be adapted to each Island. The study, therefore, calls for a specialisation of conservation programmes for each of the Islands.

Keywords: Azores; Laurusazorica; arthropods; bryophytes; endemic; islands; lichen; liverworts; mosses; native and introduced species; native forest; vascular plants.

Figure 1.

Twig of Laurusazorica (Seub.) Franco showing the leaves, unripe fruits (green) and ripe fruits (black). On the left are the details of the female and male flowers. Scientific illustration by Fernando Correia (www.efecorreia-artstudio.com). With permission of Azorina – S.A.

Figure 2.

Proportion of overall arthropods species associated with L.azorica separately for the three colonising statuses: endemic (End), native (Nat) and introduced (Int) at Archipelago (AZO) and at the different Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira).

Figure 3.

Proportion of arthropods species associated with L.azorica per order for all species (A) and for the three colonising status separately endemic (B), native (C) and introduced (D) species at Archipelago (AZO) and Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira).

Figure 4.

Specimens proportion of arthropods associated with L.azorica separately for the three colonising statuses: endemic (End), native (Nat) and introduced (Int) at Archipelago (AZO) and at the different Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira).

Figure 5.

Abundance proportion of arthropods associated with L.azorica per order for all species (A) and for the three colonising statuses separately endemic (B), native (C) and introduced (D) species at Archipelago (AZO) and Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira).

Figure 6.

Abundance (A) and number of species (B) proportions of arthropods associated with L.azorica per different functional groups (S - saprophyte, P - predator; H - herbivore; F – fungivore) at Archipelago level (AZO) and Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira).

Figure 7.

Abundance (A) and number of species (B) proportions of arthropods associated with L.azorica per different feeding modes at Archipelago (AZO) and Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira). S - saprophyte, P - predator; H - herbivore; F – fungivore and Ex - external digestion and sucking; Ch - chewing and cutting; Pi - piercing and sucking; Si - Siphoning.

Figure 8.

Species abundance distribution histograms for arthropods species communities associated with L.azorica collected in the Azores Archipelago with predicted values of the gambin models (black dots) for all species (A), endemic (B), native (C) and introduced (D) species. Graphs (B), (C) and (D) are scaled equally for the Y axis.

Figure 9.

Alpha values of Gambin models for species distributions for arthropods species communities associated with L.azorica at Archipelago (AZO) and Island level (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira) for all species (TOT), endemic (END), native (NAT) and introduced (INT) species. Lines represent 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 10.

Non-metric Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) with Bray-Curtis dissimilarities for arthropod species communities, associated with L.azorica collected in the six Islands (FAI – Faial; FLO – Flores; PIC – Pico; SMG – São Miguel; SMR – Santa Maria; TER – Terceira) using: all species (A), endemic (B), native (C) and introduced (D) species with stress values, respectively 0.182, 0.194, 0.138 and 0.175.