Litter Arthropod Populations in a Tropical Deciduous Forest: Relationships between Years and Arthropod Groups

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This 40-mo. study examines variability in the pattern of population fluctuations among years and litter arthropod groups in moist tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Based on weekly sampling, major arthropod groups showed 3 main patterns of seasonal abundance: dry season increase (2 groups), early wet season maxima (9 groups) and no fluctuations or fluctuations independent of seasonal patterns (4 groups). Among years, the rank order of abundance in seasonal comparisons was highly correlated. All groups tended to have high or low populations in the same year. This suggests among year variation for some tropical arthropods is analogous to the kinds of among-year variation found in temperate zone animals.