Each Epiphyte on Its Branch: A Comparative Study between Different Phorophytes

Epiphytes are plants that use the mechanical support provided by a host tree, called phorophytes, without emitting haustorial structures. Constituting an important component of the flora, playing an important role in the maintenance of ecosystems, such as water and nutrient cycling, in addition to providing resources, sometimes unique, such as food and shelter, for the canopy fauna. However, the epiphytic flora may show high beta diversity, even when compared with different phorophytes, possibly as a response to the dendromorphological characteristics of the phorophyte. Thus, this work aims to: 1) compare whether the species richness of epiphytes differs in trees with different morphological characteristics, and 2) compare species composition among three tree species. For this, 10 individuals of three tree species were selected: Guaria guidonia, Ficus sp., and Roystonea oleracea. In each individual, the number of species (richness) of vascular epiphytes was recorded and obtained from the species composition. To test differences in richness values between the three trees, we used analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s test. To understand whether the epiphyte community formed separate groups according to the tree species used, we used the available non-metric multidimensional scaling method (NMDS). Thirty-four species of epiphytes were found in the 30 phorophytes surveyed. The three tree species showed significantly different richness, with the highest found in Guarea guidonea and the lowest in Roystonea oleraceae. The NMDS showed that epiphytes group the three tree species into distinct groups, although Ficus sp individuals present a transitional community between the two other species. Thus, the results suggest that the differences in the richness and composition of the epiphytic flora of the different phorophytes are influenced by their distinct morphological characteristics.