Seasonal and diel variations in the activity of canopy insect herbivores differ between deciduous and evergreen plant species in a tropical dry forest

The study found that herbivorous insects in a Brazilian tropical dry forest exhibit higher diversity during the dry season, with evergreen trees supporting greater richness and abundance than deciduous trees. Additionally, insects showed increased nocturnal activity during the dry season to avoid harsh daytime conditions, suggesting that evergreen species are critical for insect conservation in these ecosystems.

• Herbivore diversity was higher during the dry season than the rainy season, with low species overlap between the two periods.
• During the dry season, evergreen trees provided a spatial refuge, supporting a higher abundance and richness of herbivores compared to deciduous trees.
• Insect herbivores exhibited a temporal shift in activity during the dry season, becoming more active at night to avoid harsh daytime climatic conditions, whereas no such diel difference was observed during the rainy season.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Seasonal and diel variations in the activity of canopy insect herbivores differ between deciduous and evergreen plant species in a tropical dry forest. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/seasonal-and-diel-variations-in-the-activity-of-canopy-insect-herbivores-differ-between-deciduous-and-evergreen-plant-species-in-a-tropical-dry-forest/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Seasonal and diel variations in the activity of canopy insect herbivores differ between deciduous and evergreen plant species in a tropical dry forest. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/seasonal-and-diel-variations-in-the-activity-of-canopy-insect-herbivores-differ-between-deciduous-and-evergreen-plant-species-in-a-tropical-dry-forest/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Seasonal and diel variations in the activity of canopy insect herbivores differ between deciduous and evergreen plant species in a tropical dry forest |date=12 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/seasonal-and-diel-variations-in-the-activity-of-canopy-insect-herbivores-differ-between-deciduous-and-evergreen-plant-species-in-a-tropical-dry-forest/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025seasonal, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Seasonal and diel variations in the activity of canopy insect herbivores differ between deciduous and evergreen plant species in a tropical dry forest}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/seasonal-and-diel-variations-in-the-activity-of-canopy-insect-herbivores-differ-between-deciduous-and-evergreen-plant-species-in-a-tropical-dry-forest/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }