Little is known about galling insects in the Amazonian rainforest, despite its renown as a highly biodiverse ecosystem. In an effort to fill this knowledge gap, we compiled data from existing studies of gall-inducing insects and their host plants in the Amazon biome. A total of 32 studies focusing on insect galls and their host plants in the Amazon were assessed. Taxonomy, inventory, and ecology emerged as the most prominently represented areas of investigation. We found 31 species of Cecidomyiidae, from seven tribes and 21 genera, reported in the Amazon Forest. The richness of gall-inducing insects exhibited a positive correlation with the size of their associated plant families, while showing no significant correlation with the age of those families.

Las turberas tropicales en la Amazonia Peruana presentan alta densidades de palma de Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (aguaje), que a menudo son cortados en lugar de ser subidas para recolectar sus frutos. Este importante tipo de alteración forestal puede generar cambios en la dinámica de las raíces finas. Se estudió la productividad, mortalidad, biomasa, necromasa y descomposición de las raíces finas, así como la tasa de corte de M. flexuosa a lo largo de un gradiente de alteración que incluye sitios de alteración bajo, moderado y alto. La productividad de raíces a nivel de la parcela fue mayor para el sitio con alteración baja que el sitio moderado y alto. Así mismo, se encontró una relación negativa entre la mortalidad de raíces finas y la precipitación. La biomasa de carbono de raíces finas fue consistentemente más alta que la necromasa de carbono de raíces finas entre los s...

Little is known about galling insects in the Amazonian rainforest, despite its renown as a highly biodiverse ecosystem. In an effort to fill this knowledge gap, we compiled data from existing studies of gall-inducing insects and their host plants in the Amazon biome. A total of 32 studies focusing on insect galls and their host plants in the Amazon were assessed. Taxonomy, inventory, and ecology emerged as the most prominently represented areas of investigation. We found 31 species of Cecidomyiidae, from seven tribes and 21 genera, reported in the Amazon Forest. The richness of gall-inducing insects exhibited a positive correlation with the size of their associated plant families, while showing no significant correlation with the age of those families.

Proporciona información sobre las miristicáceas, una familia de árboles, arbustos y trepadoras que comprende 21 géneros y más de 500 especies. Aunque la familia tiene una amplia distribución pantropical, la mayoría de las especies se encuentran en las selvas tropicales de tierras bajas. En el Neotrópico, se han descrito 83 especies de Myristicaceae en cinco géneros. Compsoneura es un género que incluye árboles de tamaño medio a grande distribuidos desde el sureste de México hasta el noroeste de Sudamérica, pasando por Centroamérica. El artículo describe una nueva especie de Compsoneura, Compsoneura nallarettiana que es similar a C. diazii pero difiere de ella en sus venas secundarias débilmente broquidódromas con el ápice de la hoja con forma acuminada a brevemente acuminada y fruto sésil. El artículo ofrece descripciones detalladas de la morfología de la nueva espe...

Tropical peat swamp forests (PSF) are characterized by high quantities of carbon (C) stored as organic soil deposits due to waterlogged conditions which slows down decomposition. Globally, Peru has one of the largest expanse of tropical peatlands, located primarily within the Pastaza-Marañón river basin in the Northwestern Peru. Peatland forests in Peru are dominated by a palm species—Mauritia flexuosa, and M. flexuosa-dominated forests cover ~ 80% of total peatland area and store ~ 2.3 Pg C. However, hydrologic alterations, land cover change, and anthropogenic disturbances could lead to PSF’s degradation and loss of valuable ecosystem services. Therefore, evaluation of degradation impacts on PSF’s structure, biomass, and overall C stocks could provide an estimate of potential C losses into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. This study was carried out in thre...

Phytelephas macrocarpa is a dioecious palm that lacks studies on the entomofauna that visit its flowers in western Amazonia. In this study we identified the insect visitors and their interaction with the inflorescences of P. macrocarpa in two localities in northwestern Peruvian Amazonia. Additionally, the richness and abundance of these insects was determined. For this purpose, six inflorescences were collected per locality (three male and three female). During field trips, the interactions of the insects on the inflorescences were observed. A total of 28 106 insects distributed in 27 species were recorded, where Amazoncharis sp., Aleochara sp. and Anchylorhynchus