vertifical stratification, floodplain forest, aerial platform

Knowledge on aphid biology has a crucial economic importance due to their impact on the most of temperate crops. They can cause a lethal damage to its hosts both directly by sucking sap from plant tissues, and indirectly by spreading of plant diseases or producing honeydew, which can be the source of a mold infestation. The less attention is paid to general patterns of their diversity, host specificity (excluding economically important species) and other ecological requirements. For example, spatial distribution of aphids in the tree canopies is poorly known, despite such knowledge could be crucial for pest control. Contrary to herbs, tree canopy provides large scale of microhabitats and such heterogeneity of conditions could generate more dispersal strategies. Unfortunately there is a lack of more complex spatial studies describing general patterns of aphid dispersal along canopy gradient. We aim to study abundance and diversity of aphids along vertical gradient within 0.2 ha plot in temperate floodplain forest in the south of the Czech Republic. Whole plot sampling was performed from May to August in 2013-2014 and in the spring of 2015 on all 58 trees within plot (Acer campestre, Carpinus betulus, Fraxinus angustifolia, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus cerris, Quercus robur, Tilia cordata a Ulmus laevis). In total, more than 2600 individuals were found (belonging to 30 aphid species). The abundance of aphids was greatest in June, these individuals accounted for more than half of the total sample. There were large differences in densities and species diversity between trees species – the highest density we have found on Acer campestre and Quercus cerris, the lowest on both Fraxinus species. We also show that there could be important differences between final models of the distribution using absolute height of the sampled branch (tree layer) and relative position of the layer (standardized to total height of the tree individual).