Ant community composition and its relationship with phytophysiognomies in a Brazilian Restinga

Cardoso, Danon Clemes; Sobrinho, Tathiana G.; Schoereder, José H.

doi:10.1007/s00040-010-0084-3

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…13,no. 2 comunidades de formigas (Ribas & Schoereder 2002, Cardoso et al 2010, Resende et al 2011. O Parque Estadual das Nascentes do Rio Tietê, apesar de representar um local de elevado valor ecológico, pois protege diversas nascentes que irão formar o mais importante rio do Estado de São Paulo, possui uma baixa diversidade e a menor densidade de espécies.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Diversidade e riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê, SP

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The objective of this study was to describe the diversity, composition and similarity of the ant fauna in seven remnants of Atlantic Forest of Upper Tietê River Basin. Two of these remnants belong to Conservation Units, four are under the protection and a fragment belongs to a private property. In each area, 50 m 2 litter samples were collected, which underwent mini-Winkler extractors, where they remained for 48 h. All collections occurred during the rainy season. In total were recorded 11 subfamilies, 44 genera and 158 morphospecies/species of ants. The most frequent species in all areas were Pheidole sp.7, Solenopsis sp.1, Hypoponera sp.1 and Strumigenys denticulata. The highest α diversity value was recorded in the conservation unit with characteristic Atlantic Forest floristic composition, the lowest value in forests with anthropogenic influence. The variation in species composition between areas indicates the replacement of species among remnants of dense rain forest of the Alto Tietê River Basin, which suggests the importance of preserving these areas for the conservation of the regional ant fauna.

show abstract

Section: Discussionunclassified

Diversidade e riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê, SP

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On open areas, increased stem height, plant richness and cover are related to higher ant diversity. This may be due to increased niche opportunities or improved micro-climates caused by the larger three-dimensional structure associated with the various kinds of vegetation (Lawton 1983;Gardner et al 1995;Vasconcelos et al 2008;Wenninger and Inouye 2008;Cardoso et al 2010;Wiezik et al 2011). More importantly, it also may be an indicator of an area experiencing less stress.…”

Section: Ant Community and Vegetation Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ant diversity increases sharply when bushes inhabit the backdunes. Whereas no associations were detected between ant diversity and leaf litter, which is thought to play an important role in structuring ant composition (Bestelmeyer and Schooley 1999;Cardoso et al 2010); ant richness was higher under thicker bushes. The thicker trunk may reflect the age of bushes as well as the age of sampling site as older bushes will have a larger trunk circumference.…”

Section: Ant Community and Vegetation Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coastal dunes are complex and fragile ecosystems. The decrease in environmental stressors from sea to inland creates zonation patterns of habitats, which support high biodiversity. Although coastal dunes have been examined in primary succession studies for more than 100 years, invertebrates have received much less attention than other taxa. In this study, we examined ant community composition and its relationship with vegetation structure on dunes, and used ants as indicators to reveal the influence of anthropogenic disturbances on these habitats. Quadrat sampling, hand collecting, and beating plants were used to sample ants on coastal dunes fringing the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ants representing 44 species were found, with diversity and number of functional groups increasing from foredunes to backdunes. Bush areas of the backdunes supported a unique ant community. Ant diversity was correlated with plant richness, stem number, and plant cover, but the correlation was not consistent among habitats. Ant diversity was lower in degraded, young-planted, and re-built but not in old-planted sites. In addition, different types of disturbance changed the ant community and functional groups in different ways. Our study emphasizes the importance of protecting the whole dune system, especially the backdunes, which support high diversity but are often completely destroyed by urban development. Data from this research provides a benchmark to examine trajectories of coastal dune ecosystem degradation or recovery when exposed to natural or anthropogenic disturbances.

show abstract

“…Therefore, it can be regarded as the most important environmental condition for the long-term dynamics of ant colonies. The effect of groundwater table on ants is assumed by several authors, both in sand dune complexes (Boomsma et al 1982 andBonte et al 2003) and in other habitats (Mabelis and Chardon 2006, Cardoso et al 2010and Budianta et al 2015. Tschinkel et al (2012) gave the most accurate and detailed analysis of the effect of the groundwater table together with other factors on the distribution of ant species in north Florida pine flatwoods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impoverishes and homogenizes ants’ community structure: a long term study

Gallé

2017

Community Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change brings along trend-like changes as well as changes in the temporal variations in environmental conditions which interact with the biological dynamics of ecological systems. Therefore, only studies covering several decades may unveil long term trends in ecological systems, such as in animal communities. To demonstrate if recent climatic changes have caused fundamental changes in the structure of a key arthropod community, I studied the long-term dynamics of ant colonies for 37 years on a sandy grassland in central Hungary. To be able to monitor colonies -the natural units of ant communities -with the possible least disturbance, I applied two grids of a total of 80 slate plates as artificial nesting sites. Prior to the presented study, a well-defined spatial ant community structure had been identified in the studied habitat, which consisted of three species groups (dune top, transitional and dune slack groups), occupying different habitat patches. During the study period 2813 nests of 11 ant species were recorded under the slates. Over the 37 years, community pattern markedly changed, dune slack species disappeared from the studied plots, while the frequency of drought-tolerant dune top species increased by a significant trend. No significant trend was observed in the case of the transitional species group. On the species population level, two species, Lasius niger and Formica cunicularia, showed an intensive population decline; while the Plagiolepis taurica population significantly increased and spatially joined the transitional species group in the dune slack in the second half of the project. These changes led to a major decline in species richness and a homogenization of species composition across habitat patches. Multiple correlation analyses revealed that the depletion of groundwater had the strongest relationship with these population trends. The study indicates that climate change can be linked to a fundamental change in the community structure of major ecosystem actors.

show abstract

Ant community composition and its relationship with phytophysiognomies in a Brazilian Restinga

Cited by 26 publications

References 39 publications

Diversidade e riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê, SP

Diversidade e riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê, SP

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

Climate change impoverishes and homogenizes ants’ community structure: a long term study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About