Ants: Major Functional Elements in Fruit Agro-Ecosystems and Biological Control Agents

Abstract

Ants are a very diverse taxonomic group. They display remarkable social organization that has enabled them to be ubiquitous throughout the world. They make up approximately 10% of the world's animal biomass. Ants provide ecosystem services in agrosystems by playing a major role in plant pollination, soil bioturbation, bioindication, and the regulation of crop-damaging insects. Over recent decades, there have been numerous studies in ant ecology and the focus on tree cropping systems has given added importance to ant ecology knowledge. The only missing point in this knowledge is the reasons underlying difference between the positive and negative effects of ants in tree cropping systems. This review article provides an overview of knowledge of the roles played by ants in orchards as functional elements, and on the potential of Oecophylla weaver ants as biological control agents. It also shows the potential and relevance of using ants as an agro-ecological diagnosis tool in orchards. Lastly, it demonstrates the potential elements which may determine the divergent negative and positive of their effects on cropping systems.

Invasive Ants Affect Spatial Distribution Pattern and Diversity of Arboreal Ant Communities in Fruit Plantations, in Tarakan Island, Borneo

“…In general, invasive species including T. melanocephalum heavily impacts their enviroments as competitors on other ants (Holway et al, 2002;Dejean et al, 2010;Falcão et al, 2017). Also, O. smaragdina is aggressive towards other ant species, defining its territory over multiple trees (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990;Van Mele, 2008;Devarajan, 2016;Diamé et al, 2017). The interspecific interations with territoriality may be one of the factors giving rise to the species segregation.…”

“…To date, little is known about the communities of arboreal ants dwelling in the plantations of two these fruits. Moreover, in any fruit plantation in Kalimantan, it has been reported that ants monopolize the major part of the biomass in arboreal arthropods (Pfeiffer et al, 2008;Fayle et al, 2013;Diamé et al, 2017). However, Asfiya et al (2015) suggested that intensive agroforestry practices promote the establishment of non-native ant species in the cocoa plantations of southeast Sulawesi.…”

Soil Macrofauna: A key Factor for Increasing Soil Fertility and Promoting Sustainable Soil Use in Fruit Orchard Agrosystems

“…Ants are major predators of small invertebrates, and they provide several ecosystem services in agrosystems, such as plant pollination, soil bioturbation, bioindication, and the regulation of crop-damaging insects. The multiplicity of their roles is linked to the great diversity of their group compared to other animal taxa [79]. Over recent decades, there have been numerous studies in ant ecology related to their interactions with tree cropping systems and different management, in order to better understand the roles played by ants in orchards as functional elements.…”

“…The immediate root-soil interface is a zone of high porosity, which is very important for several key rhizosphere processes occurring at this scale, including water and nutrient uptake and gaseous diffusion [50]. These effects highlight the importance of ant activity also in agrosystems, in which production sustainability involves the stability of ecological processes linked to soil quality [79]. a) The application of organic amendments to soil promoted high water infiltration rates and ant activity had little effect on these rates b)…”

Exploring the effect of soil management intensity on taxonomic and functional diversity of ants in Mediterranean olive groves

“…Exclusion experiments in various agroecosystems indicate that species‐rich ant communities produce positive net effects on yields (Wielgoss et al ., , Gras et al ., ). Although ants are also involved in some disservices (Mody et al ., , Wielgoss et al ., ), they contribute to sustain many ecosystem services (Del Toro et al ., ; Noriega et al ., ; Diamé et al ., ), such as pest control (Offenberg, , Milligan et al ., ), weed control (Baraibar et al ., ), and several soil‐based services (Sanabria et al ., ). Moreover, key ecosystem services (e.g.…”