A Preliminary Study of Longleaf Pine Canopy Arthropods in Southwest Georgia

N. Royce Dingley¹, Thomas N. Sheehan^2,3, Kier D. Klepzig², and Elizabeth McCarty^1,*

¹Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793. ²The Jones Center at Ichauway, 3988 Jones Center Drive, Newton, GA 38970. ³Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 23, Issue 3 (2024): 297–315

First published early online: 16 July 2024

Abstract
The Pinus palustris (Longleaf Pine) ecosystem contains a diverse array of arthropods, yet the composition of the arthropod community of the canopy layer is largely unknown. We surveyed canopy arthropods using flight-intercept traps placed in the mid-canopy of Longleaf Pine trees at the Jones Center at Ichauway to determine which taxa inhabit the canopies, and assess abundance and richness among 3 ecological communities. We collected a total of 4004 arthropods from May to August 2022. Diptera, Collembola, and Lepidoptera were the most abundant orders. Overall, order- and family-level abundance and order-level richness were similar among ecological communities. However, hemipteran family-level richness differed significantly among the ecological communities. This preliminary research lays the foundation for further canopy arthropod research in endangered Longleaf Pine ecosystems.

Download Full-text pdf (Accessible only to subscribers. To subscribe click here.)