Effects of light microhabitats in shaping species assemblages in tropical forest

Supervisor: Professor Stephen Montgomery

Co-Supervisors: Dr Caroline Bacquet & Prof Edgar Turner

The high biodiversity of tropical forests is caused, in part, by the complexity of these habitats. The forest canopy and under-canopy filter light, reflect heat, and trap humidity to create a 3D mosaic of microhabitats, which are further exaggerated by undulations in the forest floor. Species distribute themselves across these microhabitats, and may be adapted to particular microclimates or sensory conditions. This project will aim to examine the links between these mosaics of microhabitats, species’ differences in sensory traits, behavioural preferences and thermal tolerances, and the distribution and composition of species assemblages, using butterflies as a focal system. By combining field studies in primary and disturbed forest, it will also seek to understand how sensory microhabitats are impacted by human activity, and whether this leads to the predictable absence of species with particular sensory or microhabitat specialisations.

Type of work 

The student will conduct fieldwork primarily in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, in collaboration with local researchers, and will have the opportunity to shape the project to their interests. This will likely include characterising the 3D structure of the forest and its impact on light microhabitats using spectral readings, surveys of butterfly communities, and sampling of focal groups for sensory trait analyses in the lab.

Importance of research concerned

Understanding the effects of microhabitat mosaics is critical for understanding the processes that create and maintain diversity, and how these may be undermined by human activity. This project will seek to understand how robust microhabitat diversity is to disturbances, and in turn how robust communities are to the loss of microhabitat diversity. This has important implications for informing conservation action and restoration.

References 

Wainwright JB, Loupasaki T, Ramírez F, Penry-Williams IL, England SJ, Barker A, Meier JI, How MJ, Roberts NW, Troscianko J, Montgomery SH. Mutualisms within light microhabitats are associated with sensory convergence in a mimetic butterfly community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2025 Jul 22;122(29):e2422397122.