Seasonal Patterns of Lowland Forest Floor Arthropod Abundance in Southeastern Peru

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Abstract
We conducted a 2-yr study with semi-monthly collections of forest floor arthropods and periodic monitoring of temperature, relative humidity, and soil moisture for three habitats of different soil drainage (terra firme, bamboo and flood plain) at a single site in southeastern Peru. Several diurnal and seasonal patterns of arthropod biomass occurred. All habitats followed parallel and coincident profiles of arthropod biomass through the four major seasons covered by this study (2 yr of wet and dry seasons). Biomass in wet seasons was greater than biomass in dry seasons. The strongest association between arthropod biomass and environmental measures occurred with the contemporary measurement of maximum temperature, but only two habitats, terra firme and bamboo, showed thia association. The flood plain habitat showed no detectable associations between arthropod biomass and short term environmental measures. The total number of individual arthropods trapped over the 2 yr was highest for the bamboo habitat and lowest for the flood plain. The smallest overall mean individual mass was in the bamboo habitat. The highest was in the flood plain. The seasonal change in this mean individual mass value was regular for the flood plain, less regular for the bamboo habitat, and irregular for the terra firme forst. Of all the higher arthropod taxa trapped, the Coleoptera, and to a lesser extent the Collembola, exhibited consistent and distinct seasonal patterns. Other taxa such as ants, Diptera, and Orthoptera either showed seasonal patterns in one forest type or none at all.