Diversity and abundance of fungivorous thrips (Thysanoptera) associated with leaf-litter and bark across forest types and two tree genera in subtropical Australia

Abstract

Leaf-litter thrips were much more common and diverse in dry sclerophyll forest than in wetter forest types in subtropical southeast Queensland, Australia. In dry sclerophyll forest, the species composition of thrips in leaf-litter was strongly differentiated from the thrips fauna associated with bark of the trees Eucalyptus major and Acacia melanoxylon (4 of 34 species in common). The species composition of bark-dwelling thrips was similar across the two tree species and also across two eucalypts with different bark types, Eucalyptus major (flaky) and Eucalyptus siderophloia (rough). The diversity of thrips from the leaf-litter was not differentiated across all of these tree species. Virtually all thrips collected were Phlaeothripidae, subfamilies Idolothripinae and Phlaeothripinae. Idolothripinae were associated almost exclusively with leaf-litter, but Phlaeothripinae were in leaf-litter and bark. The association of fungal-feeding thrips with dry sclerophyll forest raises questions about their ecological requirements and the role they play in nutrient cycling.

Keywords:

• fungal-feeding thrips
• Phlaeothripidae: leaf-litter
• bark
• biodiversity

Acknowledgements

We thank Sarah Robbins (UQ) for her assistance in the statistical analysis, Lindsay Popple (UQ), for his help in tree identifications; Geoff Montieth and Geoff Thompson (Qld Musuem) for demonstrating the method of bark-spraying, and also to Chris Burwell (Qld Museum) in the loan of Tullgren funnels for leaf-litter processing. Thanks are also due to Roger Shivas, Plant Pathology Herbarium (DAFF Qld), for his advice on fungi as well as Dean Beasley (DAFF Qld) and Justin Bartlett (DAFF Qld) for their assistance in compiling the figures. We also thank Laurence Mound (CSIRO) for his assistance in confirming identifications of thrips species and also helpful comments on this project. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The thrips were collected from D'Aguilar National Park under permits (WITK05498008 and TWB/26/2008) issued by the Entomological Society of Queensland.