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opencc-zeroJul 2024View details →

Common ant species dominate morphospace: unraveling the morphological diversity in the Brazilian Amazon Basin

Rare plant and vertebrate species have been documented to contribute disproportionately to the total morphological structure of species assemblages. These species often possess morphologically extreme traits and occupy the boundaries of morphological space. As rare species are at greater risk of extinction than more widely distributed species, human-induced disturbances can strongly affect ecosystem functions related to assemblage morphology. Here, we assess to what extent the distributions of ant morphological traits are supported by morphologically extreme species and how they are distributed among habitats in a global biodiversity hotspot, the Brazilian Amazon. We used a morphological database comprising 15 continuous morphological traits and 977 expert-validated ant species distributed across the Brazilian Amazon. We produced species range estimates using species distribution models or alpha hulls (when few records were available). Next, we conducted a principal components analysis to combine traits into a space with reduced dimensionality (morphospace). Then, we identified morphologically extreme species in this space and quantified their contributions to morphological diversity across different habitat types in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. We identified 114 morphologically extreme ant species across the Amazon ant morphospace. These species also accounted for a large percentage of morphospace filling, exceeding 99% representation in the most disturbed habitats in the Amazon. Our results suggest that a few morphologically extreme species capture most of the variation in ant morphology and therefore, the spectrum of ecosystem functions performed by ants in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Further, unlike for many other groups, these extreme morphologies were represented by the set of most common species. These results suggest greater functional redundancy and resilience in Brazilian Amazon ants, but more broadly, they contribute to our understanding of ecological processes that sustain ecosystem functions.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

Figure 1 in Ant diversity of an urban garden with a new record from India

Figure 1. Seasonal Variation of ant species.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

Figure 2 in Ant diversity of an urban garden with a new record from India

Figure 2. Percentage wise representation of ant subfamilies.

Fig. 14 in THE BUXA TIGER RESERVE AS A 'HOT SPOT' OF ANT DIVERSITY IN WEST BENGAL STATE (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Fig. 14. Number of genera and species of ants known from India, West Bengal and Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Fig. 13 in THE BUXA TIGER RESERVE AS A 'HOT SPOT' OF ANT DIVERSITY IN WEST BENGAL STATE (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Fig. 13. Number of genera and species in each subfamily of Formicidae found in Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Fig. 12 in THE BUXA TIGER RESERVE AS A 'HOT SPOT' OF ANT DIVERSITY IN WEST BENGAL STATE (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Fig. 12. Number of species in genera of ants known from Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Figs 1, 2. Buxa Tiger Reserve. 1 in THE BUXA TIGER RESERVE AS A 'HOT SPOT' OF ANT DIVERSITY IN WEST BENGAL STATE (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Figs 1, 2. Buxa Tiger Reserve. 1 – water bodies of reserve; 2 – elephant herd inside forest.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Global biogeography of ant social parasites: Exploring patterns and mechanisms of an inverse latitudinal diversity gradient

Aim: One of the most consistent global biogeographic patterns is the latitudinal diversity gradient where species richness peaks within the equatorial tropics and decreases towards the poles. Here, we explore the global biogeography of socially parasitic ants, which comprises the most diverse group of social parasites in the Hymenoptera. We test the biogeographic hypothesis that ant social parasites are distributed along an inverse latitudinal diversity gradient by peaking in diversity outside of the equatorial tropics. Location: Global Taxon: Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Methods: We assembled a comprehensive biogeographic dataset for all 371 taxonomically described socially parasitic ant species. We used phylogenetic and taxonomic studies to compare species richness with the number of species representing independent evolutionary origins of social parasitism across a latitudinal gradient. In addition, we compared ant social parasite diversity across biogeographic regions using rarefaction to account for different sampling efforts. Finally, we tested for a correlation between latitude and the proportion of ant social parasite species within regional ant faunae. Results: The geographic distribution records and the inferred 91 origins of socially parasitic life histories show that both species richness and the number of species representing independent evolutionary origins of social parasitism peak in the northern hemisphere outside of the equatorial tropics. Based on rarefaction curves, northern latitude regions harbour the most ant social parasite species, but the diversity of independent evolutionary origins is not significantly different between northern and southern hemispheres. The proportion of ant social parasite species within regional faunae is correlated with latitude only in the northern hemisphere. Main conclusions: The inverse latitudinal diversity gradient of ant social parasites contrasts with the biogeographic pattern observed in free-living, non-parasitic ant species and appears to be driven by large species radiations as well as by the presence of specialized life histories exclusive to the northern hemisphere.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

Data for: Sampling local ant diversities and the importance of trait analyses

Ants are an incredibly diverse and ubiquitous group of invertebrates in most terrestrial ecosystems. Although extensively sampled, the majority of ant inventories do not evaluate the effect of different sampling techniques in capturing non-traditional metrics of diversity. We aimed to quantify TD (taxonomic) and FD (functional) diversities for a local ant assemblage by integrating metrics and evaluating complementarity of pitfall traps and Winkler extractors for the leaf-litter vs. epigaeic ant faunas and to determine the effect of sampling techniques on functional composition (community-weighted means of 11 morphological traits, see Table S1 in the Excel file and Trait_base_data.csv in this dataset) and functional diversity (multi-trait morphospace measured with three different metrics, see Table S2 in Excel file). We sampled the local community (Table S3 and Table S4 in the Excel file) in an Atlantic Forest fragment using week-long pitfall traps and 1m2 leaf litter samples submitted to Winkler extractors and quantified the contribution on the technique (refer to Community_data.csv in this dataset) to uniquely capture the ant morphospace by applying a new index (PWindex). Although ant TD overlapped, FD was significantly affected by the sampling technique. By controlling for TD effects, the community collected by each technique was differentially structured. Higher TD did not translate into wider morphospace for Winklers. Pitfalls recovered more functionally overdispersed assemblages. Pitfalls and Winklers overlapped in the sampling of the overall community, but each sampling method contributed with a unique spectrum to the ant morphospace. Our results suggest the importance of incorporating FD metrics in local ant inventories and the importance of sampling techniques when measuring the magnitude of FD and community structure. Our PWindex further illuminates sampling effects for ant assemblages.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Climate and ant diversity explain the global distribution of ant-plant mutualisms

Biotic interactions play an important role in shaping species geographic distributions and diversity patterns. However, the role of mutualistic interactions in shaping global plant diversity patterns remains poorly understood, particularly with respect to interactions with invertebrates. It is unclear how the nature of different mutualisms interacts with abiotic drivers and affects the distribution of mutualistic organisms. Here, we present a global-scale biogeographic analysis of three distinct ant-plant mutualisms, differentiating between plants bearing domatia, extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), and elaiosomes, based on comprehensive geographic distributions of ~19,000 flowering plants and ~13,000 ant species. Domatia and extrafloral nectaries involve indirect plant defences provided by ants, while elaiosomes attract ants to disperse seeds. Our results reveal distinct biogeographic patterns of different ant-plant mutualisms, with domatium- and EFN-bearing plant diversity decreasing sharply from the equator towards the poles, while elaiosome-bearing plants prevail at mid-latitudes. Present climate, especially mean annual temperature and precipitation, emerge as the strongest predictors of ant-associated plant diversity. In hot and moist regions, typically the tropics, the representation of EFN-bearing plants increases with the proportion of potential ant partners while domatium-bearing plants show no correlation with ants. In dry regions, plants with elaiosomes are strongly linked to interacting ant seed dispersers. Our results suggest that ants in combination with climate drive the spatial variation of plants bearing domatia, extrafloral nectaries, and elaiosomes, highlighting the importance of mutualistic interactions for understanding plant biogeography.