School of Doctoral Studies in Biological Sciences University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Faculty of Science A cross-continental comparison of fruit-and seed- feeding insects in the rainforests of Panama, Thailand and Papua New Guinea Ph.D. Thesis Chris Nazipa Dahl (M.Sc.) Supervisor: Yves Basset, Ph.D. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama Consultant: Prof. RNDr. Vojtěch Novotný, CSc. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech academy of Sciences České Budějovice 2019 This thesis can be cited as: Dahl, Chris. 2019: A cross-continental comparison of fruit-and seed-feeding insects in the rainforests of Panama, Thailand and Papua New Guinea. Ph.D. Thesis Series, No. 17. University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, School of Doctoral Studies in Biological Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic, (158 pp). Annotation The aim of this thesis is to investigate community assemblages of fruit and seed feeding insects across three distinct biogeographic ForestGEO plots of Baro Colorado in Panama, Khao Chong in Thailand and Wanang in Papua New Guinea. It studies fruit and seed syndromes from which insects were reared per plant species across this rain forest plots, and describe host specialization in fruit and seed feeding insects. More specially, to compare seed feeding insects and their rate of seed attack among different insect groups are consistent across rainforest sites. Further it use plant phylogeny to explore plant floristic diversity, and explain ecological role of seed insect specialization in regulating plant species dynamic in maintaining high plant diversity in tropical rainforest regions. Declaration [in Czech] Prohlašuji, že svoji disertační práci jsem vypracoval samostatně pouze s použitím pramenů a literatury uvedených v seznamu citované literatury. Prohlašuji, že v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. v platném znění souhlasím se zveřejněním své disertační práce, a to v úpravě vzniklé vypuštěním vyznačených částí archivovaných Přírodovědeckou fakultou elektronickou cestou ve veřejně přístupné části databáze STAG provozované Jihočeskou univerzitou v Českých Budějovicích na jejích internetových stránkách, a to se zachováním mého autorského práva k odevzdanému textu této kvalifikační práce. Souhlasím dále s tím, aby toutéž elektronickou cestou byly v souladu s uvedeným ustanovením zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. zveřejněny posudky školitele a oponentů práce i záznam o průběhu a výsledku obhajoby kvalifikační práce. Rovněž souhlasím s porovnáním textu mé kvalifikační práce s databází kvalifikačních prací Theses.cz provozovanou Národním registrem vysokoškolských kvalifikačních prací a systémem na odhalování plagiátů. České Budějovice, 4 October 2019 ……………………………….... Chris Nazipa Dahl This thesis originated from a partnership of Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, and Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, supporting doctoral studies in the Entomology study programme. Financial support The completion of projects presented in this thesis were funded through Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) Grant 13-09979S and 16-20825S; the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia (Grant GA JU 152/2016/P); the Centrum of Excellence for Tropical Biology (GAČR grant 14-36098G); the Center for Tropical Forest Science (small grant); and European Research Council Advanced Grant 669609. Field work on BCI was funded by a postdoctoral grant from the Academy of Finland to Sofia Gripenberg, Grants from the Smithsonian Institution Barcoding Opportunity FY013 and FY014 to Yves Basset. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Yves Basset and Vojtěch Novotný for their significant contribution to this thesis. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to study rainforests and their fruit-feeding insects across biogeographic distinct Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) plots at Barro Colorado Island Barro (BCI) in Panama, Khao Chong (KHC) in Thailand and Wanang (WAN, PNG) in Papua New Guinea. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to ForestGEO; main scientists; Salomón Aguilar, Richard Condit, Robin Foster, Stephen Hubbell, and Rolando Pérez at the BCI ForestGEO plot; Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, and Stuart J. Davies at the Thai KHC ForestGEO plot, and Vojtěch Novotný, and George Weiblen at the WAN ForestGEO plot. These scientists established the plots for the long term monitoring of forests so that ecologists can utilize the available data. Without the wealth of plant data from ForestGEO plots, this work would have not been possible. I am indebted to numerous colleagues who assisted in various aspect of this project. In particular, Richard Čtvrtečka, Sofia Gripenberg, Héctor Barrios, Owen T. Lewis, Simon T. Segar, Petr Klimeš, Kateřina Sam, Joseph S. Wright and Philip T. Butterill made substantial contributions to data analyses. Scott E. Miller helped with identification of reared Lepidotera and DNA barcording. In-kind help was received from the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding and Southern China DNA for Barcoding Center that allowed to sequence insect specimens. I thank ForestGEO and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama), Khao Chong Botanical Garden (Thailand) and Binatang Research Centre and Wanang Conservation Area (BRC, PNG) for logistical support. Marjorie Cedeño, Indira Simon Chaves, Catalina D. Fernandez, Marleny Rivera (Panama); Pitoon Kongnoo, Montarika Panmeng, Sutipun Putnaul (Thailand), Jerome Doboria, Roll Lilip, Jonah Filip, Dominic Rinan and Ruma Umari (PNG) collected most of the insect material. My huge gratitude belongs paraecologists at the New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang. Furthermore, I am thankful to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the National Research Council of Thailand for the collecting permits; to the Madang Provincial Government and the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority of Papua New Guinea for research support and export permits. I am thankful for sharing ideas and experience over the years with the team members of the Department of Eology at the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, namely: Čížek Lukáš, Antonin Krasa, Pavel Matos, Jimmy Moses, Conor Redmond, Legi Sam, Nichola Plowman, Pagi S. Toko, Carlo Lutz Seifert, Piotr Szefer, Daniel Souto-Vilarós and others, too numerous to mention. Many thanks to the miracle laddies: Jarmila Bajzeková, Michaela Borovanská, Eva Chocholová, Klárá Aurová and Hana Konvičková for logistical support. Further, I would like to thank the Dahl and Kinibel families at Mazidaben (Buai roots), the Mambuan Family in Bogia and the Melemal Family in Marangis Village, Karkar Island, Madang Province. Most important, I am deeply grateful for the unlimited love and support of wife Liza Bardonado Dahl, daughter Christina E. Dahl and son Christian B. Dahl. Last, but not the least I would like to dedicate this thesis to the following important people who are sorely missed. In memory of Cathy Melemal Dahl (mama), Freddy Kinibel Dahl (papa) and Larry J. Orsak (a friend and mentor). Each passed on while I was abroad undertaking this Ph.D. study at the University of South Bohemia and Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. ‘Wantaim dispela, mi tok bikpela tenkyu’ (Pidgin), khopkhun (Thai) and gracias (Spanish): with this, a very many thank you, much love. Litoria chrisdahli Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Yves Basset, PhD Panama City, Republic of Panamá, +507 212 8233, Fax +507 212-8148 E-mail: [email protected] 18 June 2019 Dr OldrichNedved Entomology PhD Committee Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Dear Dr Nedved, In anticipation of the submission of the PhD thesis of Mr Chris Dahl, I am detailing below the chapters that Chris will include in his thesis, as well as his contribution to each of these chapters. Should you need more information on this matter, please do not hesitate to write to me. Yours sincerely, Yves Basset ForestGEO Entomologist Senior Editor, Insect Conservation and Diversity ________________________________________________________________ Web pages: https://stri.si.edu/scientist/yves-basset List of papers, manuscript, and author’s contribution The thesis is based on the following papers (listed chronologically): I. Dahl, Chris, Richard Ctvrtecka, Sofia Gripenberg, Owen T. Lewis, Simon T. Segar, Petr Klimes, Katerina Sam, Dominic Rinan, Jonah Filip, Roll Lilip, Pitoon Kongnoo, Montarika Panmeng, Sutipun Putnau, Manat Reungaew, Marleny Rivera, Héctor Barrios, Stuart J. Davies, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Joseph S. Wright, George D. Weiblen, Vojtech Novotny, Yves Basset. 2019. “The insect-focused classification of fruit syndromes in tropical rain forests: An inter-continental comparison”. Biotropica 51 (1). pp. 39–49. (IF = 2.989). [Chris Dahl conceived the study, participated in the field work and data collection, extraction of DNA samples, and was responsible for analysing the data and writing the manuscript]. II. Basset, Yves, Chris Dahl, Richard Ctvrtecka, Sofia Gripenberg, Owen T. Lewis, Simon T. Segar, Petr Klimes, Hector Barrios, John W. Brown, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Buntika A. Butcher, Anthony I. Cognato, Stuart Davies, Ondrej Kaman, Milos Knizek, Scott E. Miller, Geoffrey E. Morse, Vojtech Novotny, Nantachai Pongpattananurak, Pairot Pramual, Donald L. J. Quicke, Robert K. Robbins, Watana Sakchoowong, Mark Schutze, Eero J. Vesterinen, Wen-zhi Wang, Yun-yu Wang,