Summary
A tree in the Moraceae family, Ficus phaeosyce grows in eastern New Guinea, endemic to the nation of Papua Niugini. It is a shade tolerant understorey species, locally very abundant. A range of insect herbivores feed on the plant.
| Ficus phaeosyce | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Moraceae |
| Genus: | Ficus |
| Subgenus: | F. subg. Sycidium |
| Species: | F. phaeosyce
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ficus phaeosyce K.Schum. & Lauterb.
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Taxonomy edit
The species was described by the German botanist Karl Moritz Schumann (1851-1904), who was first chair of the Deutsche Kakteen-Gesellschaft (German Cactus Society), and the German explorer and botanist Carl Adolf Georg Lauterbach (1864-1937), who had visited Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (part of German New Guinea).[3] They published the description in the book Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Südsee in 1900.[4]
Description edit
A small tree or shrub with smooth leaves.[5]
Distribution edit
Native to the eastern parts of the island of New Guinea, it is endemic to the nation of Papua Niugini.[2][1]
Habitat and ecology edit
It is a shade tolerant understorey species growing up to 2000m altitude.[5] The taxa grows in both tropical moist lowland and montane forests.[1] In primary and old secondary forest plots examined in Madang Province, PNG, this tree was co-dominant along with Macaranga novoguineensis, Pimelodendron sp., Ficus bernaysii, and Ficus wassa.[6] It favours late successional stages, but is found occasionally in early successional stages. A single Choreutis sp. of moth made up over 30% of invertebrate herbivores hosted on the species. This is a relatively high host specialization for the area.
In a survey of 191 individuals of the tree in Madang province found 427 insect herbivores from 73 species, it was one of the 3 species that had the most sap-sucking insect species (the two others being Ficus conocephalifolia and Ficus wassa).[5][7] In this area it is one of the most abundant understorey taxa, alongside F. conocephalifolia and F. wassa, F. phaeosyce had some 4552 individuals per square kilometre. Leaf expansion took on average 33 days, higher that the average leaf expansion time (24 days), but typical of shade tolerant species slowness. Latex outflow was relatively low
Guilds of insect herbivores that have been found on the species include adult leaf-chewers, larval leaf-chewers, leaf-miners, leaf-suckers, phylem-suckers, and xylem-suckers.[8]
The generalist moth Homona mermerodes is one of the species of Homona that feed on the plant, though it is not very favoured by H. mermerodes.[9]
The micromoth Niveas kone, in the metalmark moth family Choreutidae feeds on the tree.[10]
Conservation edit
The plant has a conservation rating of Least Concern from the IUCN, because it is a widespread common species with a stable population.[1] However it is not found in protected areas and its habitat is under threat from a continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality, and the population of the tree is severely fragmented and experiencing continuing decline of mature individuals.
References edit
- ^ a b c d IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; et al. (BGCI) (2020). "Ficus phaeosyce". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T142810472A170230847. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T142810472A170230847.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Ficus phaeosyce K.Schum. & Lauterb". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "Ficus phaeosyce K.Schum. & Lauterb., Fl. Schutzgeb. Südsee [Schumann & Lauterbach] 276. (1900)". International Plant Name Index (IPNI). The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "Die Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Südsee". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Basset, Yves; Novotny, Vojtech (1999). "Species richness of insect herbivore communities on Ficus in Papua New Guinea" (PDF). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 67 (4): 477–499. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1999.tb01943.x. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ Leps, Jan; Novotny, Vojtech; Basset, Yves (2001). "Habitat and successional status of plants in relation to the communities of their leaf-chewing herbivores in Papua New Guinea". Journal of Ecology. 89 (2): 186–199. Bibcode:2001JEcol..89..186L. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00540.x.
- ^ Novotny, Vojtech; Basset, Yves (2000). "Rare species in communities of tropical insect herbivores: pondering the mystery of singletons". OIKOS. 89 (3): 564–572. Bibcode:2000Oikos..89..564N. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.472.8953. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.890316.x.
- ^ Novotny, Vojtech; with 14 others. "Guild-specific patterns of host specialization in tropical forest insects: Supporting information" (PDF). Retrieved 26 March 2021.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[dead link] - ^ Hulcr, Jiri; with six others (2007). "DNA barcoding confirms polyphagy in a generalist moth, Homona mermerodes (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)". Molecular Ecology Notes. 7 (4): 549–557. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01786.x.
- ^ Rota, Jadranka; Miller, Scott E. (2013). "A new genus of metalmark moths (Lepidoptera, Choreutidae) with Afrotropical and Australasian distribution". ZooKeys (355): 29–47. Bibcode:2013ZooK..355...29R. doi:10.3897/zookeys.355.6158. PMC 3867188. PMID 24363568.