Biotic interactions in tropical agroecosystems

Abstract

The traditional agroecosystem of the neotropics has a legacy of several thousand years and may well represent a natural experiment in coevolution. The harvest yield in this system is influenced by the interactions among microorganisms, higher plants, and arthropods. These interactions include diffuse exploitative and antibiotic interference competition between saprophytic microorganisms and pathogens, predator-prey relationshfps and mutualistic relationships between and among microorganisms, higher plants, and arthropods. The tropical agroecosystem has been poorly studied from an ecological perspective and the analysis of population and community interaction is still in the descriptive stage. © 1979 by the American Society of Zoologists.