Plants, plant-feeding insects, and insect-feeding wasps and flies (known as parasitoids) are central components of terrestrial forest ecosystems. These plants and insects represent more than half of all described organisms in the world and comprise a larger proportion of undiscovered tropical species. This project consists of an intensive plant, caterpillar, and parasitoid insect inventory at the Yanayacu Biological Station (YBS) in the Ecuadorian Andes. The objectives are: 1) to sample and catalog the diverse community of caterpillars and associated parasitoid insects at YBS to discover new species and understand interactions between species; 2) to disseminate this information with a searchable database accessible to scientists and the public throughout the world; and 3) to discover natural history information, such as caterpillar diets, development times, and what insects feed upon specific herbivores and plants. Such information is used to test hypotheses about how diversity evolved and how it affects variables such as ecosystem stability, forest productivity, or ecosystem services.
The intellectual merit of this activity includes significant advances in insect classification by naming new species, developing identification guides, providing specimens with associated molecular data to experts, as well as providing a critical inventory that can be used in conservation efforts in the equatorial Andes (a global hot-spot of biodiversity). These data will also be used to address a variety of basic and applied questions, particularly those associated with climate change and biodiversity. The broader impacts of this project include direct involvement of multiple local field assistants, senior scientists, postdoctoral researchers, collaborating insect specialists, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Therefore the project strengthens international scientific dialogue and relationships. The project includes enhancements in science education and research experience programs for minorities.
The larger project to which this one is linked funds a field station on the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth. The goal is to collect samples of the broad diversity of plants there, along with the caterpillars feeding on them and the parasitic wasps feeding on the caterpilars, to understand the complex food webs in this region. The caterpillars are reared on the host plants until they metamorphose into adult butterflies or moths, or the parasitic wasps that attack them emerge. All three groups of organisms are identified if possible to species by an international team of experts. Since many of the species encountered, and their ecological interactions, are new to science, many of the products of this grant are taxonomic and ecological publications providing detailed descriptions of the diverse oganisms involved and how they interact with one another. This individual project deals primarily with our understanding of the parasitic wasps that are being surveyed. Ten scientific papers have been produced, and a publically available website has been set up to prsent the results. In addition, a graduate student and an undergraduate student have been trained in ecological and taxonomic reserach on caterpillar parasitoids, as well as in writing up scientific results for publication.
