Diversidad de insectos en cuatros especies de plantas maderables nativas establecidas en monocultivos y cultivos mixtos en Sardinilla, Panamá

Santos M. A., Barrios E. H., Luna I. G. 2009. Diversity of insects in four species of native woody plants in monocultures and mixed cultures in Sardinilla, Panama. Entomotropica The productivity of forestry plantations and agroecosystems with native tree species, especially the ones with commercial value, can suffer a negative impact from the environmental conditions, attacks from pathogens and herbivory. On this basis, the objective of the present research is to determine the diversity of insects in four species of native trees: Anacardium excelsum (Bertero y Balb.) (Anacardiaceae), Cedrela odorata (L.) (Meliaceae), Luehea seemannii Triana y Planch) (Tiliaceae) and Tabebuia rosea (Bertol) Bignoneaceae). The study was done in monoculture and mixed plots located in Sardinilla, Colon Province, Panama. Ten trees per species were selected for insect sampling in the mixed plots, with three replicates each using three different plots. In the monoculture plots, ten trees per species were selected in four different plots with three replicates each. The samples were taken with beating technique at a height of 1.60m. Each sample represents a leaf area of 60 cm2. A total of 2947 insect specimens were collected, in which 12 orders are represented, 97 families, 108 species and 123 morphospecies. The mixed plots showed a higher diversity of insects. The group of insects with the highest diversity was the order Coleoptera, of which the family Chrysomelidae and the most abundant genus was Diabrotica. The tree species that showed the highest insect diversity was Luehea seemannii. The principal conclusion is that even if tree diversity in plantations is generally used as an adequate strategy to mitigate the impact of insect herbivory, it should not be taken as the absolute postulate