Skip to main content

Insect diversity in canopies

Cloud forests are home to a large number of rare and endangered species. A large part of this species diversity is represented by arthropods. These arthropods often exist in tree canopies. In this activity, insects (especially beetles) are collected from tree canopies using flight-interception traps, for two days and two nights each, covering different habitat types (cloud forest, cloud forest fragments, forest edge, plantations, and agricultural land), with at least eight replicates each. The samples are first sorted to order level; some of the beetles groups will be subsequently determined to genus or species level. This activity is lead-managed by Tobias Seifert, under the main supervision of Dr. Jonas Eberle and Prof. Jan Christian Habel (PLUS). Tobias Seifert was supported in the field by John Maganga and Linus Mbogo Chomba.