Latitudinal Variation in the Life Histories of Insects Occupying Disturbed Habitats: A Case Study

Abstract

Most of our ideas about how temperate and tropical regions differ have been derived from comparisons of climax communities. Such comparisons have led to generalizations regarding latitudinal variation in community stability, the intensity of biological interactions, the degree of species specialization, and the direction of life history evolution (e.g., Dobzhansky 1950, Klopfer and MacArthur 1960, Cody 1966, MacArthur and Wilson 1967). We are becoming increasingly aware that disturbance is an important and increasingly prevalent process in tropical as well as temperate environments (Connell 1978, Hubbell 1979, Garwood et al. 1979, Veblen 1979). In order to obtain a complete picture of how ecological and evolutionary pressures vary with latitude, we need to consider the community organization of organisms that exploit disturbed habitats, and the extent to which such communities contribute to the total biological assemblage. It is uncertain, a priori whether an understanding of disturbed-habitat communities will support the earlier conclusions drawn from climax communities or provide new perspectives.