The possible influence of sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius varius, presence on insect community structure.

Abstract

Resources are rarely distributed evenly through space, and in addition many multispecies interactions create patchiness in population densities. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius varius, creates resource patches to which many species aggregate, thereby affecting community structure and population densities in proximity to the sapwell patch. When artificially creating an experimental resource patch in the area of a Sapsucker territory and outside, statistically higher numbers of individuals, numbers of species and relative abundances of insect groups were found in the near experimental stations. These findings corroborate the idea that Sapsuckers influence insect community structure in a local area.