The licuri palm, Syagrus coronata (Martius) Beccari (Arecaceae), is widely distributed throughout the Brazilian Caatinga and has high cultural, socioeconomical, and ecological importance. The palm tree logging is prohibited by the Brazilian law, and thus isolated individuals are a common sight on managed pastures in the Brazilian semi-arid region. We aimed to compare the insect seed-predator Pachymerus nucleorum (Fabricius) (Bruchinae) abundance and its predation levels on S. coronata seeds between managed (pasture) and natural (Caatinga vegetation) habitats. We also monitored the parasitoid Heterospilus prosopodis (Viereck) (Braconidae) abundance and other P. nucleorum potential natural enemies (generalist predators and microhymenopterans). We tested the hypothesis that more complex and heterogenous habitats (i.e., with higher plant diversity) support higher abundance of potential P. nucleorum natural enemies. For such, we collected 600 fruits from each habitat and evaluated the seed predation level by P. nucleorum, as well as the P. nucleorum parasitism by H. prosopodis. The P. nucleorum abundance and its potential natural enemies were estimated using 122 sticky traps placed on the S. coronata individuals’ crown. Neither the P. nucleorum and generalist predators abundance differed between habitats, whereas the H. prosopodis and microhymenopterans abundance was higher in the natural habitat. Consequently, P. nucleorum parasitism levels by H. prosopodis were also higher in the natural habitat. Our study indicated that habitat with higher plant diversity supported more natural enemies, thus confirming that increased habitat homogenization leads to decreased parasitism levels by the less parasitoids number in managed habitats. Our results may subsidize conservationist management practices in the managed habitats aiming to improve fruit exploitation techniques sustainability and land-use practices, which would thereafter allow for the S. coronata population conservation in the Brazilian Caatinga.

中文翻译：

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自然对栖息地的管理：对种子捕食者Pachymerus nucleorum及其自然敌人的影响。

甘蔗棕榈Syagrus coronata（Martius）Beccari（Arecaceae）广泛分布于整个巴西Caatinga，具有很高的文化，社会经济和生态重要性。巴西法律禁止采伐棕榈树，因此，在巴西半干旱地区，管理牧场的人通常很孤立。我们的目的是比较昆虫种子捕食Pachymerus nucleorum（法氏囊）（Bruchinae）的丰度和它的捕食水平S. coronata管理（牧场）和自然（卡丁加群落植被）的栖息地之间的种子。我们还监测了寄生性寄生海蛇（Viereck）（Braconidae）的丰度和其他P. nucleorum潜在的天敌（一般的掠食者和微小膜翅目动物）。我们检验了以下假设：更复杂和异质的生境（即具有更高的植物多样性）支持更高数量的潜在体育核虫天敌。对于这样，我们收集了来自每个栖息地600种水果和评价了种子捕食水平P. nucleorum，以及所述P. nucleorum寄生由H. prosopodis。的P. nucleorum丰度和其潜在的天敌，使用122个放置在粘陷阱估计S. coronata个人冠。在生境之间，核果假单胞菌和通体捕食者的丰度都没有差异，而在自然栖息地中，比目鱼嗜血杆菌和微小膜翅目昆虫的丰度较高。因此，P. nucleorum通过寄生水平H. prosopodis也高于自然栖息地。我们的研究表明，具有较高植物多样性的生境支持更多的天敌，因此证实，在管理化生境中，更少的寄生虫数量会增加生境的同质化程度，从而降低寄生虫的水平。我们的结果可能会补贴受管理栖息地中的保护主义者管理措施，旨在改善水果开发技术的可持续性和土地使用方法，此后将有助于巴西卡廷加省的冠脉沙棘种群保护。