Wood trait preferences of Neotropical xylophagous beetles

Tree life history strategies are correlated with functional plant traits,
such as wood density, moisture content, bark thickness, and nitrogen
content; these traits affect the nutrients available to xylophagous
insects. Cerambycid beetles feed on substrates that vary in these traits,
but little is known about how they affect community composition. The goal
of this project is to explore the community composition of two cerambycid
subfamilies (Cerambycinae and Lamiinae) according to the wood traits in
the wood they eat. In a salvage project conducted adjacent to the Panama
Canal, trees were felled and exposed to Cerambycidae for oviposition.
Disks from branches of differing thickness from the same plant individuals
were used to calculate wood density, moisture content, and bark thickness
in the field; nitrogen data were acquired offsite. Thick and thin branches
tended to differ in wood trait values; therefore, data were analyzed
separately in subsequent analyses. In thin branches, cerambycid abundance
and species richness were higher in samples with less dense, moister wood,
and thicker bark. Thick branches showed similar trends, but the wood
traits accounted for little variability in beetle abundance or species
richness. There were no significant regressions between beetle data and
nitrogen. Cerambycines emerged more slowly, and from denser, drier wood,
than lamiines. Cerambycines might be more drought-tolerant than lamiines,
and therefore more resistant to the longer, more severe dry seasons that
are predicted to occur due to climate change.