Arvelo Galera, Cristian Javier

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Comparison of leaf-litter Curculionidae community diversity and dissimilarity between two forests of western Puerto Rico
(2022-12-12) Arvelo Galera, Cristian Javier; Van Dam, Alex; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Locke, Sean; Acosta Martinez, Jaime; Department of Biology; Rodriguez, Grisell
I compared the composition and abundance of Curculionidae species in the leaf litter of Maricao State Forest and Guanica State Forest. Species richness and diversity were compared utilizing the Simpson and Shannon-Weaver Indices. Sample dissimilarity between the forests was calculated the Jaccard, Bray-Curtis, and Morisita-Horn Indices. Additionally, I used a non-parametric analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) to test for statistical differences in species composition and abundance between the Curculionidae communities of the two forests. 72 samples were collected in 12 localities per forest with 24 Curculionidae species being collected from both of them. Out of those 24 species, only five were shared between forests, with 12 species being found exclusively in Maricao and seven exclusively in Guanica. A hierarchical clustering dendrogram and a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) graph was created to visualize the dissimilarity of the samples. The Maricao State Forest had almost double the species diversity found in the Guanica State Forest, with ANOSIM revealing high dissimilarity between Curculionidae communities in Guanica and Maricao.