Cambio de uso de suelo, manejo forestal y sus implicaciones en las interacciones bióticas asociadas a Cedrela odorata Linnaeus, Meliaceae

Abstract

This paper documents the effect of forest management on plant-ant-herbivore interactions associated with red cedar Cedrela odorata L. 1759 in forest ecosystems of central Veracruz, Mexico. Due to the high demand as precious wood and the growing exploitation of its ecosystem, the plantations of C. odorata have been promoted. Likewise, the establishment of monospecific plantations and their management practices has led to ecological imbalance and the development of pests.In the plantations of C. odorata the larvae of the herbivorous insect known as the shoot borer Hypsipyla grandella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) have become a pest of great economic importance. In this study, we found that in the places where forest management practices were carried out with greater intensity, the complexity and composition of the vegetation adjacent to the trees of C. odorata decreased, also negatively affecting the richness of the community of ants, but increasing its abundance. In plantations, dominance is concentrated in a low number of ant species characteristic of disturbed and tolerant environments. The dissemination of the damage caused by the shoot borer is greater in sites with high intensity of management, finding an inverted pattern in the best conserved sites.