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Seasonal variation of arthropod diversity in agroforestry systems in the humid tropics of Mexico

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Abstract

Agroforestry systems in the tropics exhibit high heterogeneity in plant species composition and structural configuration. However, few studies evaluated the seasonal shift in arthropod alpha diversity and abundance in agroforestry systems in the tropics. This study was designed to analyze the composition, abundance, and alpha diversity of arthropod orders in five agroforestry systems in the humid tropic of Tabasco, Mexico. The agroforestry systems compared were shade trees in plantations (ShTP), living fences (LF), alley farming (AF), slash-and-burn agriculture (SBA), and grazing plantations (GP) during dry and rainy seasons. Arthropods were collected using pitfall traps, classified at the order level, and counted to estimate the abundance. A total of 10,271 arthropod individuals were collected that belong to seven orders. Hymenoptera was the most abundant group, accounting for 64.7% of the total count, followed by Coleoptera, Collembola, Araneae, Hemiptera, Diptera, and Orthoptera. Arthropod alpha diversity and abundance varied significantly among the agroforestry systems and between the rainy and dry seasons. The agroforestry systems AF, GP, and ShTP showed a higher diversity (Shannon index) and dominant orders (Simpson index) in the rainy season compared to the dry season. The seasonal shift of the different arthropod orders varied among agroforestry systems, while the Orthoptera did seasonally vary across the agroforestry systems. This study suggests the interactive effects of seasons and agroforestry systems on arthropod abundance and diversity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología for financially supporting research project number TAB-2006-C08-43867. We also thank El Colegio de la Frontera Sur for the support with infrastructure and financing to carry out this research.

Funding

Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia, TAB-2006-C08-43867, Gilberto Villanueva López

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tecnológico Nacional de México, campus Instituto Tecnológico de La Zona Maya, Carretera Chetumal-Escárcega Km 21.5, C.P. 77965, Ejido Juan Sarabia, Quintana Roo, México

    Luis A. Lara-Pérez, Iván Oros-Ortega & Fernando Casanova-Lugo

  2. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. Carretera a Reforma Km, 15.5 S/N Ra. Guineo 2ª Sección C.P. 86280. Villahermosa, Tabasco, México

    Gilberto Villanueva-López

  3. CONACYT-Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Carr. Ocozocoautla–Villaflores km. 84.5, C.P. 30470, Villaflores, Chiapas, México

    Deb Raj Aryal

  4. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    Rajan Ghimire

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  1. Luis A. Lara-Pérez
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  2. Gilberto Villanueva-López
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Correspondence to Gilberto Villanueva-López.

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Lara-Pérez, L.A., Villanueva-López, G., Oros-Ortega, I. et al. Seasonal variation of arthropod diversity in agroforestry systems in the humid tropics of Mexico. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 17, 799–810 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-023-10001-0

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