Evaluating insect assemblages in the tropical forest ecosystem of the Southern Western Ghats: a comparative analysis of standardised sampling strategies employing field-tested protocols
摘要
Tropical forests support probably most of the insect diversity on Earth, but few studies have attempted to comprehensively examine insect communities in tropical forests. We designed a study to document the variability of insect fauna and the suitability of each sampling traps in the protected areas of tropical forests. We thus compared insect traps to collect insects from different forest types in the Kerala of the Southern Western Ghats. Insects were sampled from October 2021 to January 2023. We have carried out sampling along an elevational gradient (95.39 - 1156 m a.s.l.). We have compared the diversity of insects caught by Malaise traps, yellow pan traps, pitfall traps, dung pitfall traps, light traps, general/hand collection and sweep nets in seven different forest habitats. Our objective is to determine how effective these traps might be in determining the diversity of insects. In total, we collected 17,612 specimens belonging to 14 orders of insects and to other taxa. We sorted the insects into orders, out of 14 orders we found Hymenoptera (29.28%), Coleoptera (25.55%), and Diptera (22.22%) had the greatest abundance. Representatives of some orders, like Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera were further determined to family level. Nonparametric tests revealed non-significant differences in numbers of individuals collected by insect traps in the seven different forest habitats (χ2 = 24, df = 24, p = 0.46). Cost-effective, timely, and appropriate methods are required to aid in the assessment and monitoring of insects because time and resources are limited.