- Title
- The role of ants and mammalian herbivores on the structure and composition of insect communities found on canopies of Acacia drepanolobium
- Creator
- Kuria, Simon K
- Creator
- Villet, Martin H
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2012
- Date
- 2012
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442663
- Identifier
- vital:74019
- Identifier
- https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR/article-full-text-pdf/6543D7937831/1000
- Description
- Acacia drepanolobium Sjøstedt (Fabaceae) constitutes about 99% of the woody vegetation in the cotton soil ecosystem of Laikipia, Kenya. The tree has symbiotic association with four ant species that discourage large mammalian herbivores from feeding on it. However, there is no information as to whether these ants affect the community of canopy insects. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of the four ant species and differential vertebrate grazing and browsing pressures on the insect community inhabiting canopies of A. drepanolobium trees. Insect samples were collected using standard fogging and beating methods and identified to family and morphospecies. At the morphospecies level, the insect communities separated into two distinct groups, one comprised of samples collected from trees occupied by Crematogaster mimosae and Crematogaster nigriceps, and the other of samples obtained from trees inhabited by C. sjostedti and Tetraponera penzigi. However, differential vertebrate grazing and browsing patterns did not show any significant effect on the insect community occupying canopies of A. drepanolobium.
- Format
- 15 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Relation
- African Journal of Agricultural Research
- Relation
- Kuria, S.K. and Villet, M.H., 2012. The role of ants and mammalian herbivores on the structure and composition of insect communities found on canopies of Acacia drepanolobium. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 7(38), pp.5317-5331
- Relation
- African Journal of Agricultural Research volume 7 number 38 5317 5331 2012
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the African Journal of Agricultural Research (AJAR) Statement (https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR/about)
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Collections
Villet, Martin Herrer (Prof)
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
SDG 15. Life On Land
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