Hymenoptera functional groups’ shifts in disturbance gradients at Andean forests in Southern Ecuador

Abstract

Ecosystems under ecological restoration should be monitored in order to investigate if the ecosystem is being functionally recovered, especially in highly vulnerable biodiversity hotspots like Andean forests. Here we sampled Hymenoptera families in four Andean forest reserves above 1800 masl from Southern Ecuador, in three conservation levels in each forest: low (degraded), medium (10–15 years of recovery) and high (well-conserved forest). All Hymenoptera families were classified into four functional groups: predators, herbivores, pollinators and parasitoids. A total of 32 hymenopteran families were collected, with parasitoids clearly dominating in the samples. Family assemblages were not statistically different, neither in abundance nor family richness. Assemblages were more similar between them in the high and medium areas than in low conservation areas, where assemblages were very variable and showed a higher functional diversity in two of the reserves. The low presence of pollinators may be due to the high humidity during the sampling and the sampling method. Although some results are promising for the restoring trajectory, especially for parasitoids, we should keep in mind that this is at family level, so it would be interesting to know if these patterns persist at lower taxonomic levels.