Distribution of vascular epiphytes on four tree species in a xerophytic forest of the Wet Chaco, Argentina
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.18.28.3.0.694Abstract
In numerous forests, the vascular epiphytes contribute substantially to species diversity. Studies about vascular epiphytes in the Wet Chaco region are very scarce. We carried out a description of the epiphyte community in four deciduous tree species, representative of a quebrachal of the Cuña Boscosa Santafesina: two of them from the upper stratum (Schinopsis balansae and Sideroxylon obtusifolium) and two from the lower one (Acacia praecox and Prosopis spp.). Eight individuals of each tree species were selected, and each individual was divided in four zones (Zone I-II: main trunk; Zone III: basal branches; Zone IV: middle branches; Zone V: thinnest branches). For each zone, all the vascular epiphytes were counted and identifed at species level. In Zone V, living and dead branches were differentiated. Data were analyzed with general linear mixed models and multivariate analysis. Fourteen species of vascular epiphytes were recorded (nine holoepiphytes, two facultative and three accidental epiphytic species) of four families (Bromeliaceae, Cactaceae, Polypodiaceae and Anacardiaceae). The richest family was Bromeliaceae, with seven species of the genus Tillandsia and Aechmea distichantha. The most abundant species was Tillandsia recurvata. Prosopis spp. had the highest abundance of epiphytes and S. obtusifolium the highest richness. Zone V had the highest average abundance and richness of vascular epiphytes. There were quantitative differences in species composition between phorophytes: A. distichantha and T. loliacea were positively associated with S. obtusifolium. Prosopis spp. had the highest abundance and richness in dead branches and the phorophytes of the upper stratum in the living ones. The differences in abundance, richness, specifc composition and vertical distribution of vascular epiphytes between phorophytes could be attributed to their morphological characteristics and the microhabitats conditions in the trunk and branches.
https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.18.28.3.0.694
References
Acebey, A., and T. Krömer. 2001. Diversidad y distribución vertical de epífitas en los alrededores del campamento río Eslabón y de la laguna Chalalán, Parque Nacional Madidi, Dpto. La Paz, Bolivia. Revista de la Sociedad Boliviana de Botánica 3:104-123.
Aguilar-Rodríguez, S., T. Terrazas, E. Aguirre León, and M. E. Huidobro Salas. 2007. Modificaciones en la corteza de Prosopis laevigata por el establecimiento de Tillandsia recurvata. Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México 81:27-35.
Arévalo, R., and J. Betancur. 2004. Diversity of vascular epiphytes in four forests of Southeastern region of the Serranía de Chiribiquete, Colombian Guayana. Caldasia 26:359-380.
Bach, K., M. Kessler, and J. Gonzales. 1999. Caracterización preliminar de los bosques deciduos andinos de Bolivia en base a grupos indicadores botánicos. Ecología en Bolivia 32:7-22.
Bader, M. 1999. A study on the distribution of vascular epiphytes in a secondary cloud forest, Central Cordillera, Colombia. Tesis Doctoral. Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Holanda. Pp. 110.
Barberis, I. M., W. B. Batista, E. F. Pire, J. P. Lewis, and R. J. C. León. 2002. Woody population distribution and environmental heterogeneity in a Chaco forest, Argentina. Journal of Vegetation Science 13:607:614.
Barberis, I. M., J. P. Lewis, and W. B. Batista. 2005. Heterogeneidad estructural de los bosques de la Cuña Boscosa de Santa Fe en distintas escalas espaciales. Pp. 43-58 en M. Oesterheld, M. R. Aguiar, C. M. Ghersa and J. M. Paruelo (eds.). La heterogeneidad de la vegetación de los agroecosistemas. Un homenaje a Rolando León. Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Barberis, I. M., P. S. Torres, W. B. Batista, G. Magra, L. Galetti, and J. P. Lewis. 2014. Two bromeliad species with contrasting functional traits partition the understory space in a Southamerican xerophytic forest: correlative evidence of environmental control and limited dispersal. Plant Ecology 215:143-153.
Barthlott, W., V. Schmit-Neuerburg, J. Nieder, and S. Engwald. 2001. Diversity and abundance of vascular epiphytes: a comparison of secondary vegetation and primary montane rain forest in the Venezuelan Andes. Plant Ecology 152:145-156.
Bataghin, F. A., F. De Barros, and J. S. Rodrigues Pires. 2010. Distribution of the community of vascular epiphytes in sites under different degrees of disturbance in the Ipanema National Forest, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 33:501-512.
Bataghin, F. A., A. Muller, J. S. Rodrigues Pires, F. De Barros, A. Terumi Fushita, and E. C. Scariot. 2012. Riqueza e estratificação vertical de epífitas vasculares na Estação Ecológica de Jataí - área de Cerrado no Sudeste do Brasil. Hoehnea 39:615-626.
Benzing, D. H. 1990. Vascular epiphytes. General biology and related biota. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Inglaterra.
Benzing, D. H. 2000. Bromeliaceae: profile of an adaptive radiation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Inglaterra.
Blendinger, P. G., N. P. Giannini, I. C. Zampini, R. Ordoñez, S. Torres, S. Sayago, J. E. Sayago, R. A. Ruggera, and M. I. Isla. 2015. Nutrients in fruits as determinants of resource tracking by birds. Ibis 157:480-495.
Breier, T. B. 2005. O epifitismo vascular em florestas do sudeste do Brasil. Tesis doctoral. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil. Pp. 139.
Brown, D. A. 1990. El epifitismo en las selvas montanas del Parque Nacional ‘El Rey’ Argentina: Composición florística y patrón de distribución. Revista de Biología Tropical 38:155-166.
Cabido, M., A. Manzur, L. Carranza, and C. González Albarracín. 1994. La vegetación y el medio físico del Chaco Árido en la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina Central. Phytocoenologia 24:423-460.
Cach-Pérez, M. J., J. L. Andrade, N. Chilpa-Galván, M. Tamayo-Chim, R. Orellana, and C. Reyes-García. 2013. Climatic and structural factors influencing epiphytic bromeliad community assemblage along a gradient of water-limited environments in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Tropical Conservation Science 6:283-302.
Cach-Pérez, M. J., J. L. Andrade, and C. Reyes-García. 2014. La susceptibilidad de las bromeliáceas epífitas al cambio climático. Botanical Sciences 92:157-168.
Callaway, R. M., K. O. Reinhart, G. W. Moore, D. J. Moore, and S. C. Pennings. 2002. Epiphyte host preferences and host traits: Mechanisms for species-specific interactions. Oecologia 132:221-230.
Cantero, J. J., J. Mulko, C. Núñez, G. E. Zeballos, S. R. Sfragulla, J. A. Amuchastegui, A. Barboza, F. Chiarini, L. A. Espinar, A. A. Bonalumi, P. Brandolin, and M. Cabido. 2017. Heterogeneidad de la vegetación en ambientes basálticos del centro de Argentina. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 52:153-183.
Casañas Suárez, O. L., and D. Jáuregui. 2011. Morfoanatomía foliar de epífitas presentes en un bosque nublado, Altos de Pipe, Estado Miranda, Venezuela. Acta Botanica Venezuelica 34:153-175.
Cavallero, L., D. López, and I. M. Barberis. 2009. Morphological variation of Aechmea distichantha (Bromeliaceae) in a Chaco forest: habitat and size-related effects. Plant Biology 11:379-391.
Ceballos, S. J., N. P. Chacoff, and A. Malizia. 2016. Interaction network of vascular epiphytes and trees in a subtropical forest. Acta Oecologica 77:152-159.
Chaves, C. J. N., J. C. Dyonisio, and D. R. Rossatto. 2016. Host trait combinations drive abundance and canopy distribution of atmospheric bromeliad assemblages. AoB Plants 8:1-13.
Contreras, S. A., F. I. Contreras, A. I. Lutz, and A. F. Zucol. 2015. Contribución al conocimiento florístico del Chaco Oriental, sudeste de la provincia de Formosa, Argentina. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 50:531-574.
Cortes-Anzures, B. O., A. M. Corona-López, V. H. Toledo-Hernández, S. Valencia-Díaz, and A. Flores-Palacios. 2017. Branch mortality influences phorophyte quality for vascular epiphytes. Botany 95:709-716.
Drehwald, U. 1995. Epiphytische Pflanzengesellschaften in NO-Argentinien. Dissertationes Botanicae 250:1-175.
Dufrêne, M., and P. Legendre. 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecological Monographs 67:345-366.
Eskuche, U. 1986. Bericht über die 17. Internationale Pflanzengeographische Exkursion durch Nordargentinien (1983). Veroffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes der Eidgenossischen Technischen Hochschule Stiftung Rubel 91:12-117.
Estrabou, C., C. Quiroga, and J. M. Rodríguez. 2014. Lichen community diversity on a remnant forest in south of Chaco region (Cordoba, Argentina). Bosque (Valdivia) 35:49-55.
Estrabou, C., L. Stiefkens, M. Hadid, J. M. Rodríguez, and A. Pérez. 2005. Estudio comparativo de la comunidad liquénica en cuatro ecosistemas de la provincia de Córdoba. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 40:1-10.
Flores-Palacios, A., and J. G. García-Franco. 2006. The relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness: Testing four different hypotheses. Journal of Biogeography 33:323-330.
Flores-Palacios, A., C. L. Barbosa-Duchateau, S. Valencia-Díaz, A. Capistrán-Barradas, and J. G. García-Franco. 2014. Direct and indirect effects of Tillandsia recurvata on Prosopis laevigata in the Chihuahua desert scrubland of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Journal of Arid Environments 104:88-95.
Gentry, A. H., and C. H. Dodson. 1987. Diversity and biogeography of neotropical vascular epiphytes. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 74:205-233.
Giorgis, M. A., A. M. Cingolani, F. Chiarini, J. Chiapella, G. Barboza, L. Ariza Espinar, R. Morero, D. E. Gurvich, P. A. Tecco, R. Subils, and M. Cabido. 2011. Composición florística del Bosque Chaqueño Serrano de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina. Kurtziana 36:9-43.
Granados-Sánchez, D., G. F. López-Ríos, M. Á. Hernández-García, and A. Sánchez-González. 2003. Ecología de las plantas epífitas. Chapingo: Serie Ciencias Forestales y del Ambiente 9:101-111.
Jiménez-Escobar, D. N. 2015. Entre ‘azahares’ y ‘chaguares’: Las bromelias forrajeras en las Sierras de Ancasti, Catamarca, Argentina. Gaia Scientia 9:1-6.
Jiménez-López, D. A., R. de J. Roblero-Velasco, N. Martínez-Meléndez, G. Ocampo, and J. A. Gallardo-Cruz. 2017. Relación entre variables del forófito y la riqueza de epífitas vasculares en los Pantanos de Centla, Tabasco, México. Acta Botánica Mexicana 121:125-137.
Joanitti, S. A., V. de Lara Weiser, O. Cavassan, and A. L. Giles. 2017. Vascular epiphytes in a woodland savanna forest in southeastern Brazil. The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 144:439-449.
Johansson, D. 1974. Ecology of vascular epiphytes in West African rain forest. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 59:1-136.
Krömer, T., S. Gradstein, and A. R. Acebey. 2007. Diversidad y ecología de epífitas vasculares en bosques montanos primarios y secundarios de Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia 42:23-33.
Lewis, J. P. 1991. Three levels of floristical variation in the forests of Chaco. Journal of Vegetation Science 2:125-130.
Lewis, J. P., and E. F. Pire. 1981. La vegetación de la República Argentina. Reseña sobre la vegetación del Chaco Santafesino. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Lewis, J. P., E. F. Pire, and I. M. Barberis. 1997. Structure, physiognomy and floristic composition of a Schinopsis balansae (Anacardiaceae) forest in the Southern Chaco, Argentina. Revista de Biología Tropical 45:1013-1020.
Malizia, A. 2003. Host tree preference of vascular epiphytes and climbers in a subtropical montane cloud forest of Northwest Argentina. Selbyana 24:196-205.
Marino, G. D., and J. F. Pensiero. 2003. Heterogeneidad florística y estructural de los bosques de Schinopsis balansae (Anacardiaceae) en el sur del Chaco Húmedo. Darwiniana 41:17-28.
Martínez-Meléndez, N., M. A. Pérez-Farrera, and A. Flores-Palacios. 2008. Vertical stratification and host preference by vascular epiphytes in a Chiapas, Mexico, cloud forest. Revista de Biología Tropical 56:2069-2086.
McCune, B., and M. J. Mefford. 2011. PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Versión 6.0. MjM Software, Gleneden Beach, USA.
Mendieta-Leiva, G., and G. Zotz. 2015. A conceptual framework for the analysis of vascular epiphyte assemblages. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 17:510-521.
Mereles, M. F. 2005. Una aproximación al conocimiento de las formaciones vegetales del Chaco Boreal, Paraguay. Rojasiana 6:5-48.
Montero, G., C. Feruglio, and I. M. Barberis. 2010. The phytotelmata and foliage macrofauna assemblages of a bromeliad species in different habitats and seasons. Insect Conservation and Diversity 3:92-102.
Murphy, P. G., and A. E. Lugo. 1986. Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:67-88.
Navarro, G. 2001. Contribución al conocimiento fitosociológico de la vegetación de epífitos vasculares del centro y sur de Bolivia. Revista Boliviana de Ecología 10:59-79.
Noguchi, D. K., G. P. Nunes, and Â. L. B. Sartori. 2009. Florística e síndromes de dispersão de espécies arbóreas em remanescentes de Chaco de Porto Murtinho, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Rodriguésia 60:353-365.
Pittendrigh, C. S. 1948. The Bromeliad-Anopheles-Malaria complex in Trinidad. I-The Bromeliad Flora. Evolution 2:58-89.
de la Rosa-Manzano, E., J. L. Andrade, G. Zotz, and C. Reyes-García. 2014.Epiphytic orchids in tropical dry forests of Yucatan, Mexico - Species occurrence, abundance and correlations with host tree characteristics and environmental conditions. Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 209:100-109.
Smith, L. B., and R. J. Downs. 1977. Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae). Flora Neotropica 14:663-1492.
Smith, L. B., and R. J. Downs. 1979. Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. Flora Neotropica 14:1493-2142.
Soria, N. F., C. Torres, and L. Galetto. 2014. Experimental evidence of an increased leaf production in Prosopis after removal of epiphytes (Tillandsia). Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 209:580-586.
ter Steege, H., and J. H. C. Cornelissen. 1989.Distribution and ecology of vascular epiphytes in lowland rain forest of Guyana. Biotropica 21:331-339.
The R Core Team. 2017. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R version 3.3.3. The R. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Viena, Austria.
Toledo-Aceves, T., J. G. García-Franco, and A. Flores-Palacios. 2017. Do cloud forest tree species differ in their suitability as a substrate for epiphytic bromeliads? Plant Ecology 218:541-546.
Valencia-Díaz, S., A. Flores-Palacios, V. Rodríguez-López, E. Ventura-Zapata, and A. R. Jiménez-Aparicio. 2010. Effect of host-bark extracts on seed germination in Tillandsia recurvata, an epiphytic bromeliad. Journal of Tropical Ecology 26:571-581.
Vergara-Torres, C. A., M. C. Pacheco-Álvarez, and A. Flores-Palacios. 2010. Host preference and host limitation of vascular epiphytes in a tropical dry forest of central Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 26:563-570.
Wang, Q., W. B. Guan, M. H. Gi Wong, S. Ranjitkar, W. N. Sun, Y. Pan, Y. A. El-Kassaby, and L. X. Shen. 2017. Tree size predicts vascular epiphytic richness of traditional cultivated tea plantations in Southwestern China. Global Ecology and Conservation 10:147-153.
Woods, C. L., C. L. Cardelús, and S. J. Dewalt. 2015. Microhabitat associations of vascular epiphytes in a wet tropical forest canopy. Journal of Ecology 103:421-430.
Zotz, G. 2007. Johansson revisited: the spatial structure of epiphyte assemblages. Journal of Vegetation Science 18:123-130.
Zotz, G. 2016. Plants on plants - The biology of vascular epiphytes. Springer, Suiza.
Zotz, G., and J. L. Andrade. 2002. La ecología y la fisiología de las epífitas y las hemiepífitas. Pp. 271-296 en M. R. Guariguata and G. H. Kattan (eds.). Ecología y conservación de bosques neotropicales. IICA, San José, Costa Rica.
Zotz, G., and S. Schultz. 2008. The vascular epiphytes of a lowland forest in Panama-species composition and spatial structure. Plant Ecology 195:131-141.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Eugenio Alvarez Arnesi, Ignacio M. Barberis, José L. Vesprini
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Authors retain their rights as follows: 1) by granting the journal the right to its first publication, and 2) by registering the published article with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which allows authors and third parties to view and use it as long as they clearly mention its origin (citation or reference, including authorship and first publication in this journal). Authors can make other non-exclusive distribution agreements as long as they clearly indicate their origin and are encouraged to widely share and disseminate the published version of their work.
