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Effect of seasonality, climate, and leaf traits on insect herbivory and arthropod dynamics across a vertical forest stratification in Papua New Guinea’s lowland rainforest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2025

Heveakore Maraia Open the ORCID record for Heveakore Maraia [Opens in a new window] ,
Leonardo Re Jorge Open the ORCID record for Leonardo Re Jorge [Opens in a new window] ,
Hayden Wagia  and
Katerina Sam Open the ORCID record for Katerina Sam [Opens in a new window]
Heveakore Maraia*
Affiliation:
Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Department of Forestry, School of Natural Resources, PNG University of Natural Resources and Environment, Private Mail Bag, Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
Leonardo Re Jorge
Affiliation:
Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Hayden Wagia
Affiliation:
New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea School of Forestry, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Private Mail Bag, Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Katerina Sam
Affiliation:
Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
*
Corresponding author: Heveakore Maraia; Email: maraiah205@gmail.com
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Abstract

Determining factors that regulate insect–plant interactions is of great interest in tropical forest ecology. However, our understanding of these factors across vertical stratification in tropical rainforests remains limited. We examined the effects of seasonality, microclimate, and leaf traits on insect herbivory and arthropod dynamics across vertical forest stratification in a weakly seasonal tropical rainforest in Papua New Guinea. We surveyed insect herbivory and arthropods on seven dominant tree species at 5 m increments from 1 m to 30 m, three times during both dry and wet seasons. We assessed insect herbivory on 9,425 leaves and collected 3,445 arthropods from 407.07 m2 of foliage. Herbivory decreased non-linearly with forest height and was highest during the wet season. Herbivorous arthropod density mirrored this pattern, peaking at the onset of the rainy season and remaining low at the start of the dry season and the end of the wet season. Predatory arthropod densities peaked in the canopy at the beginning of the wet season. Temperature, leaf dry matter content, and leaf toughness increased with forest height, while specific leaf area decreased. We conclude that forest stratification and seasonality play vital roles in mediating the rate of insect herbivory and arthropod community dynamics in the tropical lowland rainforest of Papua New Guinea.

Keywords

Arthropodschewing herbivoresinsect herbivoryKakoba Research CraneNew Guinea’s tropical rainforestsap suckersvertical forest gradients

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 41 , 2025 , e24
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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