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665 results for “ant diversity”
Data from: A tale of scale: plot but not neighbourhood tree diversity increases leaf litter ant diversity
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Trait-mediated competition drives an ant invasion and alters functional diversity
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Global biogeography of ant social parasites: Exploring patterns and mechanisms of an inverse latitudinal diversity gradient
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Data from: Tropical ant communities under agroforestry can be diverse but lack trait-and-environment associations
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Data from: one ant’s trash is another ant’s treasure: army ant middens provide resources for diverse ant assemblages
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Formicidae species (ants) abundance: Trophic Structure: Insect Species Diversity, Abundance and Body Size
The goal of this study was to examine the populations of insects in prairies and savannas. Most of the prairies had developed after being abandoned from agriculture, but none of the savannas had been cultivated. The history of burning varied between sites. The main sampling for this study was conducted in 1992 by the lead investigators: John Haarstad, Evan Siemann, and David Tilman. Insects were sampled via sweep-net sampling, pitfalls and ant scent plates throughout the growing season in each of 49 grassland fields and savannas. In total, 89,596 individuals of 1,167 species were captured and enumerated. Body size was measured for a subset of grasshoppers collected. In 2004, John Haarstad conducted two similar studies by identifying and enumerating all insects collected in sweepnet samples taken in old fields (prairies) as part of E014 grasshopper studies and from sweepnet samples taken in savannas.
Functional and genetic diversity changes through time in a cloud forest ant assemblage
<p>Climate change in the Neotropics is causing upslope range shifts. We used arrays of ant species collected in a cloud forest at 1,500 m in Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica, collected in two time periods (1998-2000 and 2008-2011) to measure changes in species richness and diversity over a decade. Using metrics of community structure, we found that the species assemblage in the collections from the 1990s were significantly phylogenetically clustered and functionally less diverse as compared to collections from the early 2000's. At both time points, the assemblages were significantly phylogenetically clustered and while the difference in functional diversity between the time points was not significant, the ant assemblage has become lighter in color (on average) over time. When individual species are considered the overall pattern of replacement is consistent with the cloud forest ant assemblage being colonized by arrivals from lower-elevation forests. The invertebrate communities on cloud forested mountain tops are especially vulnerable to a changing climate as there are two factors working together; no higher terrain to which they can move and the invasion of more and more taxa from lower downslope. This vulnerability is already measurable.</p>
Data from: Do secondary forests act as refuges for old growth forest animals? Recovery of ant diversity in the Atlantic forest of Brazil
The extent to which secondary forests occupying degraded and abandoned lands provide suitable habitat for forest-adapted species is an important conservation issue in times of vanishing old growth forests. We used ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a functionally important and diverse group of invertebrates, to investigate the recovery of soil taxa during secondary forest succession in the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil. We compared the resilience of epigeic vs. hypogeic ant assemblages. For this purpose we established 27 sites that encompassed a chronosequence from pastures to old growth forests on two contrasting soil types. Our results are based on a collection of 35 508 individuals in 40 genera. Richness and composition of ant assemblages in secondary forests have recovered slowly and have not approached conditions typical of old growth forests. The distribution of genera along the successional stages was arranged in a nested pattern where ant genera of younger successional stages were a subset of genera present in older stages. Edaphic conditions had no influence on the recovery process. Overall, richness of ants was lower at study sites with water-logged soils than at sites where soils did not exhibit hydromorphic properties. The hypogeic ant assemblage recovered more slowly than the epigeic assemblage. Our results show that secondary forests do not act as refuges for many forest-adapted animals which are currently restricted to discontinuous patches of old growth forest in the highly endangered Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Moreover, estimated recovery times of 50 to several hundred years suggest it would take much longer than previously presumed for complete recolonization.
Data from: Selective logging intensity in an East African rain forest predicts reductions in ant diversity
As natural forest ecosystems increasingly face pressure from deforestation, it is ever more important to understand the impacts of habitat fragmentation and degradation on biodiversity. Most studies of anthropogenic change in the tropics come from Southeast Asia and South America, and impacts of habitat modification are often taxon-specific. Here we empirically assessed the impact of habitat fragmentation and recent (within 25 years) and historic (>25 years ago) selective logging on the diversity of ants in the Kakamega rain forest in western Kenya, and asked whether these forms of degradation interact as multiple stressors. We found that the severity of recent selective logging was negatively related to overall species richness and abundance as well as the richness and abundance of forest specialists, but found no detrimental effect of past selective logging or habitat fragmentation on ant diversity, although habitat fragment size was correlated with estimated species richness. There was also no effect of any form of habitat degradation on the richness or abundance of open habitat specialists, even though these species often exploit niches created in disturbed environments. Ultimately, this study reveals the detrimental impact of even moderate forms of habitat degradation on insect biodiversity in the understudied African rain forests.
Data from: Taxonomic and functional ant diversity along a secondary successional gradient in a tropical forest
The taxonomic diversity (TD) of tropical flora and fauna tends to increase during secondary succession. This increase may be accompanied by changes in functional diversity (FD), although the relationship between TD and FD is not well understood. To explore this relationship, we examined the correlations between the TD and FD of ants and forest age in secondary forests at the α- and β-diversity levels using single- and multi-trait-based approaches. Our objectives were to understand ant diversity patterns and to evaluate the role of secondary forests in the conservation of biodiversity and in the resilience of tropical forests. Ant assemblages were sampled across a chronosequence in the Lacandon region, Mexico. All species were characterized according to 12 functional ecomorphological traits relevant to their feeding behavior. We found that TD and FD were related to forest age at the alpha level, but not at the beta level. α-functional richness and divergence increased linearly with species richness and diversity, respectively. Also, the relationship between taxonomic and functional turnover was linear and positive. Our results indicated that functional traits were complementary across the chronosequence. The increase in FD was mainly driven by the addition of rare species with relevant traits. The older secondary forests did not recover all of the functions of old growth forest but did show a tendency to recovery. Because older successional stages support more TD and FD, we suggest developing agriculture and forestry management practices that facilitate rapid post-agricultural succession and thereby better preserve the functionality of tropical forests.
Data from: Bottom-up effects of host-plant species diversity and top-down effects of ants interactively increase plant performance
While plant diversity is well known to increase primary productivity, whether these bottom-up effects are enhanced by reciprocal top-down effects from the third trophic level is unknown. We studied whether pine tree species diversity, aphid-tending ants and their interaction determined plant performance and arthropod community structure. Plant diversity had a positive effect on aphids, but only in the presence of mutualistic ants, leading to threefold greater number of both groups in the tri-specific cultures than in monocultures. Plant diversity increased ant abundance not only by increasing aphid number, but also by increasing ant recruitment per aphid. The positive effect of diversity on ants in turn cascaded down to increase plant performance; diversity increased plant growth (but not biomass), and this effect was stronger in the presence of ants. Consequently, bottom-up effects of diversity within the same genus and guild of plants and top-down effects from the third trophic level (predatory ants) interactively increased plant performance.
Data from: Influences of climate and historical land connectivity on ant beta diversity in East Asia
Aim Biodiversity patterns reflect both ecological and evolutionary processes interacting with geographical variation in climate and the current and historical connectivity between land areas. We sought to disentangle these effects in explaining the organization of ant diversity across geographical areas and islands in East Asia. Location The Japanese Archipelago including the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands, Taiwan and coastal continental regions of Korea, China and Russia. Methods We aggregated species occurrence records from published literature, specimen databases and museum records, and compiled climatic variables for islands and politically defined continental areas. Current and historic land connections in the Last Glacial Maximum were determined using bathymetric databases. We analysed factors driving patterns of Simpson composition dissimilarity using multiple regression of distance matrices (MRM). Results Temperature was the largest driver of dissimilarity among areas, with geographical distance and historical land contiguity also being important. Current land contiguity had no detectable effect. Main Conclusions We found climate to be a primary driver of ant diversity patterns on large scales, consistent with previous work on ants and other organisms. Interestingly, land connectivity during historical periods of low sea level was more important than current land connectivity in explaining faunal similarities. This implies that despite the potential overwater dispersal of ants, overland dispersal via transient land connections is a more important driver of regional-scale biogeographical pattern in East Asia.
Data from: Ant diversity in Neotropical savannas: hierarchical processes acting at multiple spatial scales
1. Understanding what creates and maintains macroscale biodiversity gradients is a central focus of ecological and evolutionary research. Spatial patterns in diversity are driven by a hierarchy of factors operating at multiple scales. Historical and climatic factors drive large-scale patterns of diversity by affecting the size of regional species pools, while habitat heterogeneity or microhabitat characteristics further influence species coexistence at small scales. 2. We tested the degree to which the species-energy, historical factors, habitat heterogeneity and local environment hypotheses explain observed patterns of ant diversity across hierarchical spatial scales. 3. We sampled ground-dwelling ants at 29 sites within a Neotropical savanna region, the Brazilian Cerrado. We measured species density – an abundance-dependent diversity metric – and rarefied species richness – an abundance-independent metric – at spatial scales with varying grain sizes. For each hypothesis, two correlates were used to predict ant diversity patterns: i) species-energy: rainfall and productivity; ii) historical factors: historical variation in rainfall and refugial areas; iii) habitat heterogeneity: heterogeneity in greenness and diversity of land cover; iv) local factors: contents of sand and coarse fragments in the soil. 4. Ant diversity patterns correlated to net primary productivity and to the proportion of coarse fragments in the soil, corroborating the species-energy and local environment hypotheses, respectively. Soil negatively influenced species density, but not rarefied species richness, which was positively influenced by productivity. We found scale dependencies in the effects of soil/productivity on species density; productivity best predicted species density patterns at large scales, since sampling completeness offset the abundance-driven effects of soil. 5. Considering abundance differences may help to discern the mechanisms underlying the relationship between macroscale diversity patterns and its ecological drivers. Plant productivity affected ant diversity independently of abundance, possibly by limiting the size of regional species pools. On the other hand, soil properties had an abundance-dependent effect on ant diversity, indicating a sampling mechanism. Our findings are consistent with predictions of the hierarchical theory of diversity. Large-scale patterns of productivity limit regional diversity, an effect that cascades down to finer spatial scales, where soil properties influence the number of coexisting species.
Data from: The fire ant social chromosome supergene variant Sb shows low diversity but high divergence from SB
Variation in social behavior is common yet little is known about the genetic architectures underpinning its evolution. A rare exception is in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta: Alternative variants of a supergene region determine whether a colony will have exactly one or up to dozens of queens. The two variants of this region are carried by a pair of "social chromosomes", SB and Sb, which resemble a pair of sex chromosomes. Recombination is suppressed between the two chromosomes in the supergene region. While the X-like SB can recombine with itself in SB/SB queens, recombination is effectively absent in the Y-like Sb because Sb/Sb queens die before reproducing. Here, we analyze whole genome sequences of eight haploid SB males and eight haploid Sb males. We find extensive SB-Sb di↵erentiation throughout the >19Mb long supergene region. We find no evidence of "evolutionary strata" with different levels of divergence comparable to those reported in several sex chromosomes. A high proportion of substitutions between the SB and Sb haplotypes are nonsynonymous, suggesting inefficacy of purifying selection in Sb sequences, similar to that for Y-linked sequences in XY systems. Finally, we show that the Sb haplotype of the supergene region has 635-fold less nucleotide diversity than the rest of the genome. We discuss how this reduction could be due to a recent selective sweep affecting Sb specifically or associated with a population bottleneck during the invasion of North America by the sampled population.
Data from: Odor diversity decreases with inbreeding in the ant Hypoponera opacior
Reduction in heterozygosity can lead to inbreeding depression. This loss of genetic variability especially affects diverse loci, such as immune genes or those encoding recognition cues. In social insects, nestmates are recognized by their odor, i.e. their cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Genes underlying hydrocarbon production are thought to be under balancing selection. If so, inbreeding should result in a loss of chemical diversity. We show here that cuticular hydrocarbon diversity decreases with inbreeding. Studying an ant with a facultative inbreeding lifestyle we found inbred workers to exhibit both a lower number of hydrocarbons and less diverse, that is, less evenly-proportioned profiles. The association with inbreeding was strong for methyl-branched alkanes, which play a major role in nestmate recognition, and for n-alkanes, whereas unsaturated compounds were unaffected. Shifts in allocation strategies with inbreeding in our focal species indicate that these ants can detect their inbreeding level and use this information to adjust their reproductive strategy. Our study is the first to demonstrate that odor profiles can encode information on inbreeding, with broad implications not only for social insects, but for sexual selection and mate choice in general. Odor profiles may constitute an honest signal of inbreeding, a fitness-relevant trait in many species.
Data from: Are tree species diversity and genotypic diversity effects on insect herbivores mediated by ants?
Plant diversity can influence predators and omnivores and such effects may in turn influence herbivores and plants. However, evidence for these ecological feedbacks is rare. We evaluated if the effects of tree species (SD) and genotypic diversity (GD) on the abundance of different guilds of insect herbivores associated with big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) were contingent upon the protective effects of ants tending extra-floral nectaries of this species. This study was conducted within a larger experiment consisting of mahogany monocultures and species polycultures of four species and –within each of these two plot types– mahogany was represented by either one or four maternal families. We selected 24 plots spanning these treatment combinations, 10 mahogany plants/plot, and within each plot experimentally reduced ant abundance on half of the selected plants, and surveyed ant and herbivore abundance. There were positive effects of SD on generalist leaf-chewers and sap-feeders, but for the latter group this effect depended on the ant reduction treatment: SD positively influenced sap-feeders under ambient ant abundance but had no effect when ant abundance was reduced; at the same time, ants had negative effects on sap feeders in monoculture but no effect in polyculture. In contrast, SD did not influence specialist stem-borers or leaf-miners and this effect was not contingent upon ant reduction. Finally, GD did not influence any of the herbivore guilds studied, and such effects did not depend on the ant treatment. Overall, we show that tree species diversity influenced interactions between a focal plant species (mahogany) and ants, and that such effects in turn mediated plant diversity effects on some (sap-feeders) but not all the herbivores guilds studied. Our results suggest that the observed patterns are dependent on the combined effects of herbivore identity, diet breadth, and the source of plant diversity.
Data from: Mountain metacommunities: climate and spatial connectivity shape ant diversity in a complex landscape
Understanding what drives biodiversity patterns across scales is the central goal of ecology. Both environmental gradients and spatial landscape structure have been found to be important factors influencing species distributions and community composition, and partly reflect the balance of underlying deterministic and stochastic community processes. In some systems, environmental gradients and spatial connectivity are intertwined in that steep environmental gradients serve as boundaries on species movements and impose environment-derived complex spatial structure to metacommunities. Mountainous landscapes are prime examples of this, and recent theory has linked principles of geomorphology, environmental gradients, and spatial structure to make predictions for resulting community patterns. In this context, we examine variation in taxonomic and phylogenetic ant diversity patterns along a geographic transect spanning >5000 m in elevational range in the Hengduan mountains of southern China. We found that environmental gradients dominate variation in both alpha and beta diversity in this landscape, with alpha diversity strongly declining with elevation and beta diversity driven by elevational differences. However, within an elevational band spatial connectivity predicts beta diversity better than geographic distance. Our findings deviate from theoretical predictions in several ways, notably alpha diversity is monotonically declining and within-band beta diversity is invariant with increasing elevation. The discrepancies between theory and observation may be explained by differences in the Hengduan landscape from idealized fluvial landscapes, such as a lack of a mid-elevation peak in connectivity, as well as evolutionary limits on the source pool of species available to populate metacommunities at different elevations. The latter is supported by variation in phylogenetic community structure with elevation. Our results demonstrate the power of conceptual, statistical, and theoretical frameworks that integrate the roles of environment and spatial structure in metacommunities, but that additional work is needed to bridge the gap between abstract theory and real systems.
Figure 2 in The tight genome size of ants: diversity and evolution under ancestral state reconstruction and base composition
Figure 2. Bayesian consensus tree resulting from the LW-Rh and Wg gene alignments (871 bp). Coloured dots on the branches indicate the values of posterior probability (PP): green dots represent values between 1.00 and 0.95, yellow dots between 0.94 and 0.90, and red dots ≤ 0.89. The nodes are indicated with numbers. Values above and below the branches represent the ancestral genome size (GS; 1C-values, in picograms) at particular nodes: in blue is the value generated by the maximum likelihood (ML) [asterisks are related to confidence interval (CI) values shown in Supporting Information, Table S4]; orange is the value generated by maximum parsimony (MP); and black, given below the branches, is the value generated by Bayesian inference (BI). Genome size data (1C-values) were obtained in the present work (pink dots) or taken from the literature (grey dots).
Figure 1 in The tight genome size of ants: diversity and evolution under ancestral state reconstruction and base composition
Figure 1. Fluorescence intensity histograms obtained from three different species, with Drosophila melanogaster as internal standard, stained with propidium iodide (PI; A–C) or 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; D–F). The x-axis corresponds to the scale of fluorescence intensity, and the y-axis represents the number of nuclei with that fluorescence intensity.
Figure 3 in The tight genome size of ants: diversity and evolution under ancestral state reconstruction and base composition
Figure 3. Mean genome size (in picograms and megabase pairs) estimated for Formicidae subfamilies. The phylogenetic tree generated in the present study was redrawn, with collapsed branches corresponding to species of the same subfamily.
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