Annotations on ecological interactions in the Barras de Buero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, Honduras

Abstract

The Barras Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge is a protected area located in the Atlantic coastal zone of Honduras. This area is threatened by introduced species and changes in land use, such as the cultivation of African palm. The aim of this study was to identify plant-animal interactions based on observations in the field and complemented with unstructured interviews directed at resource guards and local guides in the area. There were 60 ecological interactions of the 50 plant species studied in the rvsbcs, herbivory (54 %) was the most predominant antagonistic interaction, followed by florivory (23 %), while the most frequent mutualistic interactions were entomophily (21 %) and frugivory (19 %). The Antillean manatee, Trichechus manatus manatus, considered a very important an herbivorous species in the refuge, feeds on several macrophytes: Echinochloa polystachya, Eichhornia crassipes, Ludwigia helminthorrhiza, Crinum americanum, Echinochloa polystachya, among others. Fruit and seed dispersal is recorded in Alouatta palliata, Cebus capucinus imitator, Procyon lotor, Nasua
narica, and Ramphastos sulfuratus. Flower visitors searching for a floral resource have been observed Euchroma gigantea in Myrmecophila tibicinis, Dryas iulia in Lantana camara, Macrocneme chrysitis Danaus eresimus, Anartia sp. in Cyrtocymura scorpioides, as well as, Taxomerus spp. in Commelina difussa and the butterfly Cupido sp. en Tridax procumbens, Sphagneticola trilobata. Being entomophily the most common. It should be noted that biotic interactions are already antagonistic and mutualistic in the rvsbcs play crucial role, in particularly in the maintenance and balance in the ecosystem.