Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Montes Claros, Minas Gerais 39404-547, Brazil.
Departamento de Entomologia/BIOAGRO, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais 36570-900, Brazil.
Environ Entomol. 2024 Apr 11;53(2):230-236. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvae011.
Terminalia argentea Mart. (Combretaceae), native to Brazil, is used in habitat restoration programs. Arthropods are bioindicators because their populations reflect changes in the environment. We evaluated the recovery of a degraded area by using ecological indices and analyzing arthropod interactions on T. argentea plants. The richness and diversity of sap-sucking Hemiptera and the abundance of tending ants and Sternorrhyncha predators increased with the number of T. argentea leaves. The correlation of the abundance of tending ants and Sternorrhyncha predators was positive with that of the sap-sucking Hemiptera, and the abundance of Sternorrhyncha predators was negative with that of tending ants and sap-sucking Hemiptera. The positive correlation between the abundance, richness, and diversity of insect groups and numbers of T. argentea leaves is an example of the bottom-up regulation mechanism, with the population dynamics of the lower trophic levels dictating those of higher trophic levels. The contribution of T. argentea, a host plant of many arthropods, to the recovery of ecological relationships between organisms in degraded ecosystems is important.
银叶树（使君子科）原产于巴西，被用于生境恢复计划中。节肢动物是生物指标，因为它们的种群反映了环境的变化。我们使用生态指数评估了退化地区的恢复情况，并分析了节肢动物在银叶树植物上的相互作用。吸食汁液的半翅目昆虫的丰富度和多样性以及饲养蚂蚁和缨翅目捕食者的丰度随着银叶树叶片数量的增加而增加。饲养蚂蚁和缨翅目捕食者的丰度与吸食汁液的半翅目昆虫的丰度呈正相关，而缨翅目捕食者的丰度与饲养蚂蚁和吸食汁液的半翅目昆虫的丰度呈负相关。昆虫组的丰度、丰富度和多样性与银叶树叶片数量之间的正相关是一种自下而上的调节机制的例子，较低营养级的种群动态决定了较高营养级的种群动态。作为许多节肢动物宿主植物的银叶树，对恢复退化生态系统中生物之间的生态关系具有重要意义。
