The effects of rain and fallen debris on macroinvertebrate colonization of artificial water tanks and their implications for bromeliad communities
Artículo académico
Bromeliads are important components of tropical forests and their leaves form tanks (“phytotelmata”) with unique microecosystems. Until recently, there were no experiments of how macroinvertebrates reach these tanks. We placed 150 plastic cups (“artificial bromeliads”) in a Costa Rican forest and found that when debris and rain are experimentally blocked, some groups are not found in the tanks (including the medically important Culicidae) or differ in frequency between treatment and control.
