<S2-8> The population dynamics and biodiversity of insect seed predators in tropical rainforests of Sarawak

Abstract

Insect seed predators play important roles in the dynamics of forest ecosystems. Here, we briefly review the recent progress of research in ecology and evolutionary biology of insect seed predators in Southeast Asian tropical rainforests, where community-wide supra-annual masting (called "general reproduction (GR)" here) occurs, with the introduction of the predator satiation hypothesis, which is one of the leading hypotheses to explain the ecological mechanisms promoting the evolution of GR. We also introduce our own current studies on insect seed predators in the lowland tropical rainforest at Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak. In addition, we present our future plans for research on the natural history and evolutionary ecology of interactions between seed-feeding insects and plant species in Sarawakian tropical rainforests, with emphasis on the necessity for the long-term census on the community-level seed predation.