In tropical forests, epiphytes increase habitat complexity and provision services rare to canopy environments, such as water retention, nutrient cycling, and microclimate refuge. These services facilitate species diversity and coexistence in terrestrial ecosystems, and while their utility in forest ecosystems is appreciated for the Bromeliaceae of the Neotropics, fewer studies have examined the role of Paleotropic epiphytes in ecological niche theory. Here, we compare herpetofaunal presence, abundance, and diversity of in bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus complex; BNF) to other microhabitats in Madagascar and the Philippines. We measure BNF fern microclimates, examine temporal use of canopy microhabitats, and test models of fern characteristics hypothesized to predict herpetofaunal use. In both countries, one in five BNFs were occupied by herpetofauna, mostly amphibians, and species using BNFs were highly dissimilar from those in other microhabitats. Herpetofaunal presence and abundance were greater in BNFs than in other canopy microhabitats and were most commonly used during the day when fern temperatures were highly buffered. Finally, BNF area was the best predictor of herpetofaunal presence and abundance, compared to canopy cover and BNF height. Importantly, these patterns remained consistent despite the distinct phylogenetic histories of our two communities (Asian versus African). Our results suggests that BNFs and their microclimate services play a critical role in the ecology of two Paleotropic forests, and facilitate the use of canopy habitats by climate-sensitive species. However, future studies are needed to assess the consistency of BNFs' utility as a microclimate refuge across their large range.

中文翻译：

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燕窝蕨类植物的附生植物促进了两个古生冠层的草本植物的乔木化和气候庇护。

在热带森林中，附生植物增加了栖息地的复杂性，并为树冠环境提供了罕见的服务，例如保水，养分循环和小气候庇护所。这些服务促进了陆地生态系统中物种的多样性和共存，尽管新热带的凤梨科对它们在森林生态系统中的效用表示赞赏，但很少有研究研究古生附生植物在生态位理论中的作用。在这里，我们将燕窝蕨类植物（Asplenium nidus complex； BNF）与马达加斯加和菲律宾的其他微生境相比，其爬虫的存在，丰度和多样性。我们测量BNF蕨类小气候，检查冠层微生境的暂时使用，并假设假装的蕨类植物特性预测模型来预测疱疹的使用。在这两个国家 五分之一的BNF被Herpetofauna占据，主要是两栖动物，并且使用BNF的物种与其他微生境的物种高度不同。与其他冠层微生境相比，BNF中的爬虫性足和丰度更高，并且在蕨类温度被高度缓冲的白天最常使用。最后，与冠层覆盖和BNF高度相比，BNF面积是疱疹足存在和丰度的最佳预测指标。重要的是，尽管我们两个社区（亚洲与非洲）有不同的系统发育史，但这些模式仍保持一致。我们的结果表明，BNF及其微气候服务在两个古热带森林的生态中起着至关重要的作用，并促进了气候敏感物种对树冠生境的利用。然而，