On Foliage Arthropod Communities of Puerto Rican Second Growth Vegetation
1973
Allan, J. D. | Barnthouse, L. W. | Prestbye, R. A. | Strong, D. R.
Foliage arthropod collections from Puerto Rico second growth vegetation are analyzed at five sites from sweep samples taken in the dry season (February 1972). Data on taxonomic composition, diversity, evenness, and trophic structure are presented for these sites and compared with published data for other tropical and temperate areas. We conclude that the second growth vegetation of Puerto Rico supports an arthropod community of comparable diversity to that of other Caribbean islands or a Kansas woodland. This diversity is far lower than that of continental Central America. Surprisingly, the proportion of predators in our island samples is high, sometimes approaching half of the individuals. A significant correlation was found between the number of adult insects and number of spiders, both for the Central American mainland and for the Puerto Rican samples. However, the ratio of spiders per insect is far higher for the island collections.
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