Vegetation and Lepidoptera in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

Seasonally dry tropical forests are worldwide recognized as important ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. Increasing agricultural activities (e.g., slash-and-burn agriculture) leads to a heterogeneous landscape matrix; and as ecological succession takes over in abandoned fields, plant and animal communities endure shifts in species richness and composition. This book presents the analysis on plant and Lepidoptera (caterpillar) communities and their species turnover along forest succession and along a gradient from dry to humid seasonal forests in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. We discuss the contribution of climate zones, forest age and seasonality to the comunity structure of plant and Lepidoptera assemblages. The study of these environmental gradients may serve to understand and forecast future changes in species diversity in response to increasing human activities and climate change. This book aims to encourage comprehensive research in the field of community ecology of plants and insects, and will also be of interest to those working in conservation, land use management and climate change in seasonally dry tropical forests.