Species Composition and Trophic Structure of
Insect Communities in Texas Prairies
Guy N. Cameron and Edwin H. Bryant
Abstract: Species composition and trophic structure of the
insect community were compared between coastal and central prairies of Texas.
Species diversity was higher in the coastal prairie, but average richness
per habitat and among-habitat diversity were greater in the central prairie.
Insect diversity increased as vertical (woody) components of vegetation were
added to sites in both prairie types. As a result of such among-habitat differences,
both taxonomic and trophic structure also varied among sites within the central,
but not the coastal, prairie, and between coastal prairie and central prairie
habitats. The central prairie contained a greater proportion of Hymenoptera
and Orthoptera, a smaller proportion of Homoptera and Coleoptera, more unique
species, and a lower proportion of predators and detritivores than the coastal
prairie. Such among-site variation in community structure within an ecosystem
must be understood to assess whether conservation plans can be ecosystem-based
or must be site-specific.
Key words: community structure, conservation, entomofauna, prairie.
This resource is based on the following source:
Cameron, Guy N., and Edwin H. Bryant. 1999. Species composition and trophic structure of insect communities in Texas prairies. Prairie Naturalist 31(4):221-242.
This resource should be cited as:Cameron, Guy N., and Edwin H. Bryant. 1999. Species composition and trophic structure of insect communities in Texas prairies. Prairie Naturalist 31(4):221-242. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/insects/txinsect/index.htm (Version 23OCT2001).
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Methods
- Study areas
- Sampling protocol
- Results
- Taxonomic structure
- Similarity Analyses
- Trophic Structure
- Discussion
- Acknowledgments
- Literature Cited
Tables and Figures
- Table 1 -- Number of families, species, and total number of individuals for each order, as well as proportion of unique species, species diversity, and equitability in eight study sites in coastal prairie.
- Table 2 -- Number of families, species, and total number of individuals for each order, as well as proportion of unique species, species diversity, and equitability in eight study sites in central prairie.
- Table 3 -- Maximally nonsignificant subsets of sites identified by log-likelihood ratio tests for the central prairie.
- Table 4 -- Number of species and percent of total fauna in each trophic level for all study sites in coastal prairie.
- Table 5 -- Number of species and percent of total fauna in each trophic level for all study sites in central prairie.
- Table 6 -- Maximally nonsignificant subsets for trophic categories among sites identified by log-likelihood ratio tests for central prairie.
- Table 7 -- Maximally nonsignificant subsets
of trophic categories between central and coastal prairie.
- Figure 1 -- Dendogram displaying results of cluster analysis of the similarity matrix among sites based upon sweep samples in coastal prairie.
- Figure 2 -- Dendogram displaying results of cluster analysis of the similarity matrix among sites based upon sweep samples in central prairie.
Guy N. Cameron* and Edwin H. Bryant, Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5513
* Current address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221.
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