DOI: 10.5061/dryad.qv9s4mwn6
title: Diversity patterns along ecological succession in tropical dry forests: A multi-taxonomic approach

description: Evaluating the diversity of multiple taxa is fundamental to understand
 community assembly and to assess the integrity and functionality of
 tropical secondary forests. In this study, we analyzed the natural
 regeneration of tropical dry forests (TDFs) in three regions of Brazil
 using Hill-Simpson diversity, abundance and β-diversity of trees and five
 groups of insects (herbivores, fruit-feeding butterflies, ants, culicid
 mosquitoes and dung beetles). Sampling was conducted in 39 0.1 ha plots
 using a chronosequence approach (13 plots in early, intermediate and
 old-growth forests). We evaluated the contribution of three different
 levels to γ-diversity: α (within plots), β¹ (among plots) and β² (among
 successional stages), and further determined the relative importance of
 turnover (species replacement) and nestedness (differences in species
 number among sites) to β². Our results showed that, unexpectedly, the
 Hill-Simpson diversity was consistently higher in early than old-growth
 stages for all regions, but varied more widely in the intermediate stages.
 For each group separately, the same trend was observed for butterflies,
 ants, dung beetles and herbivores and did not differ among stages for
 mosquitoes. Successional differences in abundance were only detected for
 trees (increasing along the gradient) and for mosquitoes (decreasing).
 According to our expectations, the additive partitioning analysis showed
 that β2-diversity contributed more to γ-diversity than β1-diversity, when
 all taxa were considered together and for most of them separately (except
 for butterflies and dung beetles). Most of the β²-diversity was due to
 species turnover, but this contribution varied among groups and regions,
 with the highest turnover for herbivores and the lowest for dung beetles.
 Our results suggest that the Hill-Simpson diversity and changes in species
 composition (as given by β²-diversity) are better indicators of forest
 natural regeneration than raw species richness, corroborating previous
 studies with plants and animals.
description: <strong>Methods - Tree Sampling</strong>
 From January to May 2012, 39 plots of 50 x 20 m were delimited (9
 in Serra do Cipó, 15 in North MG and 15 in Patos), with 13 plots in each
 successional stage. Whenever possible, plots from different stages were
 interspersed, with a minimum distance of 200 m among plots (Figure S1).
 The floristic survey was carried out only once in the same period. In each
 plot, all living trees with diameter at breast height (DBH = 1.30 m from
 the ground) ≥ 5 cm were identified and measured. Height was visually
 estimated with the aid of a 2 m stick as a reference. These inventoried
 individuals were marked and numbered with aluminum tags and identified
 according to the Brazilian Flora project (Brazil Flora Group 2021).
 Voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of the Federal
 University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and in the Herbarium Montes Claros (MCMG)
 at the State University of Montes Claros (UNIMONTES).
 <strong>Methods - Fauna Sampling</strong>
 <em>Herbivorous insects</em>
 Herbivorous insects associated with the TDF canopy were sampled
 according to Macedo-Reis et al. (2019). We used Malaise/Window-type traps
 based on the model proposed by Basset (1988), in which the upper and lower
 parts contained bottles with 70% alcohol. One trap was uplifted in the
 center of each plot until reaching the canopy, where they remained for
 five days (120 hours) in each of the four samplings. The captured
 herbivores were classified into one of the following three guilds,
 according to their mouthparts: chewers, suckers and xylophages
 (Macedo-Reis et al. 2019). The insects were separated into morphospecies,
 identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and deposited in the
 entomological collection of the Laboratory of Insect Ecology at the
 Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
 <em>Butterflies</em> Frugivorous
 butterflies were sampled according to Beirão et al. (2017). Four Van
 Someren-Rydon traps (VSR; Rydon 1964) were used in each plot. On the first
 day of sampling, the traps were placed with their base about 1 m above the
 ground and baited with fermented banana and sugarcane juice. Captured
 butterflies were removed daily and baits were replaced during three
 consecutive days. Captured individuals were marked with permanent ink when
 possible and information such as date, location and species identification
 were recorded (Beirão et al. 2017). When identification in the field was
 not possible, individuals were stored in envelopes with all the
 information for later identification in the laboratory, using field guides
 by DeVries (1987) and Uehara-Prado et al. (2004). The specimens were
 deposited in the reference collection of the Laboratory of Insect Ecology
 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais,
 Brazil. <em>Ants</em>
 Ant sampling was carried out at five points in each plot (one at
 each corner and one at the center) according to Silva et al. (2017).
 Unbaited pitfalls were used with 200 ml of a solution composed of water
 and detergent. For epigeic ants, the traps were buried at ground level. To
 capture arboreal ants, pitfalls were installed at a height of 1.30 m in
 trees with circumference at breast height (CBH) ≥ 15 cm. Thus, 10 pitfall
 traps were placed in each plot. The traps remained in the field for 48
 hours and the captured ants were taken to the laboratory for
 identification at the lowest possible taxonomic level according to Baccaro
 et al. (2015). The specimens were deposited in the reference collection of
 the Laboratory of Insect Ecology at the Federal University of Minas
 Gerais. <em>Culicid
 mosquitoes</em> Mosquitos from the Culicidae
 family were sampled using two types of trap. At dusk, a Shannon light trap
 was exposed for two hours and two CDC light traps were exposed for 12
 hours in each plot. Additionally, active sampling was carried out for the
 capture of mosquitoes with daytime activity, in which a manual aspirator
 was used to collect all the mosquitoes that landed on the researcher
 before they started the blood meal. This type of sampling was performed
 once in each plot for a period of 45 minutes (Santos et al. 2015). The
 specimens were identified using dichotomous keys by Lane (1953), Faran
 (1980), Consoli and Oliveira (1994) and Forattini (2002) and deposited in
 the entomological collection of the Laboratory of Ecology and Biological
 Control of Insects at the State University of Montes Claros.
 <em>Dung beetles</em> Beetles from
 the Scarabaeinae subfamily were sampled using five pitfall traps baited
 with 50g of fresh human feces per plot (one at each and one at the
 center). The pitfalls were buried with the top opening leveled with the
 ground and contained 250 ml of a liquid mixture of water, detergent and
 salt to preserve the captured beetles. The bait was placed inside the
 pitfall and a cover was placed to prevent leaves and rainwater from
 entering. After 48 hours, the traps were removed and the captured scarab
 beetles were stored in alcohol and identification in the laboratory at the
 lowest possible taxonomic level according to Vaz-de-Mello et al. (2011).
 The specimens collected in Patos were deposited in the Entomological
 Collection of the Federal University of Pernambuco while those collected
 in North MG and Serra do Cipó were deposited in the Entomological
 Collection of the Federal University of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso,
 Brazil.
 <strong>References</strong>
 Baccaro, F. B. et al. 2015. Guia para os gêneros de formigas do
 Brasil. Manaus - Ed. INPA. 1: 1- 388. Beirão, M. V.
 et al. 2017. High butterfly beta diversity between Brazilian cerrado and
 cerrado–caatinga transition zones. - J. Insect Conserv. 21:
 849–860. Consoli, R. A. G. B. and Oliveira R. L.
 1994. Principais mosquitos de importância sanitária no Brasil. Rio de
 Janeiro- Ed. Fiocruz. 1- 228. Devries, P. J. 1987.
 The butterflies of Costa Rica and their natural history. Vol I:
 Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae - The J. Res. on the Lep. 24:
 290-333. Faran, M. E.1980. Mosquito studies
 (Diptera, Culicidae) XXXIV. A revision of the Albimanus Section of the
 subgenus Nyssorhynchus of Anopheles - Contrib Am Entomol Inst.15:
 1-214 Forattini, O. P. 2002. Culicidologia médica,
 vol 2: Identificação, Biologia, Epidemiologia. São Paulo - Ed. USP.
 722p. Lane, J. 1953. Neotropical Culicidae. Tribe
 Culicini, Deinocerites, Uranotaenia, Mansonia, Orthopodomyia, Aedomyia,
 Aedes, Psorophora, Haemagogus, tribe Sabethini, Trichoprosopon, Wyeomyia,
 Phoniomyia, Limatus and Sabethes. São Paulo: Ed. USP. 2:1953.
 Rydon, A. 1964. Especially for field collectors: Notes on the
 use of butterfly traps in East Africa. - J. Lepid. Soc. 18:
 51–58. Santos, C. F. et al. 2015. Inventory of
 mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in conservation units in Brazilian
 tropical dry forests. - Rev. Inst. Med. Trop. Sao Paulo 57:
 227– Silva, L. F. et al. 2017. Ant diversity in
 Brazilian tropical dry forests across multiple vegetation domains. -
 Environ. Res. Lett. 12:035002 Uehara-Prado, M. et
 al. 2004. Guia das borboletas frugívoras da reserva estadual do Morro
 Grande e região de Caucaia do Alto. Cotia SP Biota Neotropica
 4:1–9. Vaz-de-Melo, F. Z. et al. 2011. A
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description: # DIVERSITY PATTERNS ALONG ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION IN TROPICAL DRY FORESTS:
 A MULTI-TAXONOMIC APPROACH 
 This dataset contains the abundance of each of the species collected per
 plot (50 x 20 m) for six different taxa: butterflies, ants, mosquitoes,
 herbivorous insects, dung beetles and trees in tropical dry forests in
 three regions: North of MG (15 plots, three sites), Serra do Cipó (9
 plots, one site) and Patos (15 plots, one site). For insects, multiple
 samples (traps) were used per plot. For trees, the plot is the sampling
 unit. In each region, plots were equally distributed into three
 successional stages: early, intermediate and old-growth. ## Description of
 the data and file structure The dataset contains a column for “Plot code”
 that indicates the region, successional stage and plot number. The column
 “Region” has three categories: North of MG, Patos and Serra do Cipó. In
 each region, there are three successional stages- Early, Intermediate and
 Late – which are indicated in another column. Each stage has three or five
 plots depending on the region. Plot number is given in a separate column.
 In total, the dataset contains 39 plots, in which six different taxa were
 sampled. Taxa is given in a separate column. A species list of each taxon
 per plot is given in a separate column. For each species in each plot, the
 abundance (number of individuals) is given in a separate column. Finally,
 the season (dry or wet) when each taxon was sampled is given in a separate
 column. For some taxon, samples were obtained in both seasons. ##
 Sharing/Access information Data was derived from the following sources: *
 The dataset contains raw data that was directly collected by the authors.
 ## Code/Software Not applicable. The dataset contains raw data that was
 directly collected by the authors.