¿Hospedero o altitud? : análisis ecológico de redes de artrópodos asociados a semillas de leguminosas en un bosque seco tropical colombiano

Insect-plant interactions are the basis of ecosystems. These interactions can vary between host plants at the same altitude or between altitudes in the same species. This is the first study that compares the ecological networks of arthropods associated with legume seeds and their richness as a function of different hosts and altitudes in Bs-T in Colombia. We compared the ecological networks of arthropods and the richness of morphospecies associated with seeds of three legume species (two native P. dulce and P. saman and one exotic: L. leucocephala) in a sector of Colombian Bs-T, when they share the same Altitude and when they are at different altitudes. We found that the exotic host (L. leucocephala) has a greater richness of morphospecies than P. saman and P. dulce in the same locality, the general network of insects associated to the three legumes had low density. The richness of morphospecies in P. guachapele, 50% more species were obtained at lower altitudes than higher. However, the number of trophic guilds was the same at both altitudes their ecological network was obtained high density but low nesting. Comparing L. leucocephala richness at different altitudes, 60% more species were obtained at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes; The trophic guilds also declined as the latitude increased. That is, the change in the richness and structure of arthropod morphospecies networks depends more on the type of host than on the altitude at which they are found.