From rainforest to oil palm plantations: Shifts in predator population and prey communities, but resistant interactions

Konopik, Oliver; Gray, Claudia L.; Grafe, T. Ulmar; Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf; Fayle, Tom M.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2014.10.011

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For example, non-aposematic Rhinella alata frogs in Panama [48] and Phrynoidis juxtaspera in Borneo [49] consume larger ants in the leaf litter community. Importantly, in our study, frog preference for certain ant traits did not change with habitat, a pattern also known to occur in Borneo [49] . Therefore, it is unlikely that poison frogs select for ants solely based on their chemical defenses.…”

Section: Poison Frogs Eat a Distinct Set Of Leaf Litter Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use impacts poison frog chemical defenses through changes in leaf litter ant communities

Moskowitz

Dorritie

Fay³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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AbstractMuch of the world’s biodiversity is held within tropical rainforests, which are increasingly fragmented by agricultural practices. In these threatened landscapes, there are many organisms that acquire chemical defenses from their diet and are therefore intimately connected with their local food webs. Poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) are one such example, as they acquire alkaloid-based chemical defenses from their diet of leaf litter ants and mites. It is currently unknown how habitat fragmentation impacts chemical defense across trophic levels, from arthropods to frogs. We examined the chemical defenses and diets of the Diablito poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica), and the diversity of their leaf litter ant communities in secondary forest and reclaimed cattle pasture. Notably, this research was performed in collaboration with two high school science classrooms. We found that the leaf litter of forest and pasture frog habitats differed significantly in ant community structure. We also found that forest and pasture frogs differed significantly in diet and alkaloid profiles, where forest frogs contained more of specific alkaloids and ate more ants in both number and volume. Finally, ant species composition of frog diets resembled the surrounding leaf litter, but diets were less variable. This suggests that frogs tend to consume particular ant species within each habitat. To better understand how ants contribute to the alkaloid chemical profiles of frogs, we chemically profiled several ant species and found some alkaloids to be common across many ant species while others are restricted to a few species. At least one alkaloid (223H) found in ants from disturbed sites was also found in skins from pasture. Our experiments are the first to link anthropogenic land use changes to dendrobatid poison frog chemical defenses through variation in leaf litter communities, which has implications for conservation management of these threatened amphibians.

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Section: Poison Frogs Eat a Distinct Set Of Leaf Litter Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use impacts poison frog chemical defenses through changes in leaf litter ant communities

Moskowitz

Dorritie

Fay³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…It has been suggested that functional diversity at different trophic levels can be retained in selectively logged forest (Barnes et al, 2014;Konopik, Gray, Grafe, Steffan-Dewenter, & Fayle, 2014) and that degraded forests remain of surprisingly high ecological value. Given that on a global scale, human-modified forests dominate over pristine forests Laurance et al, 2014), we urgently need to improve understanding of these land use changes on key ecological processes such as litter decomposition and soil nutrient cycling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use not litter quality is a stronger driver of decomposition in hyperdiverse tropical forest

Both

Elias

Kritzler

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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In hyperdiverse tropical forests, the key drivers of litter decomposition are poorly understood despite its crucial role in facilitating nutrient availability for plants and microbes. Selective logging is a pressing land use with potential for considerable impacts on plant–soil interactions, litter decomposition, and nutrient cycling. Here, in Borneo's tropical rainforests, we test the hypothesis that decomposition is driven by litter quality and that there is a significant “home‐field advantage,” that is positive interaction between local litter quality and land use. We determined mass loss of leaf litter, collected from selectively logged and old‐growth forest, in a fully factorial experimental design, using meshes that either allowed or precluded access by mesofauna. We measured leaf litter chemical composition before and after the experiment. Key soil chemical and biological properties and microclimatic conditions were measured as land‐use descriptors. We found that despite substantial differences in litter quality, the main driver of decomposition was land‐use type. Whilst inclusion of mesofauna accelerated decomposition, their effect was independent of land use and litter quality. Decomposition of all litters was slower in selectively logged forest than in old‐growth forest. However, there was significantly greater loss of nutrients from litter, especially phosphorus, in selectively logged forest. The analyses of several covariates detected minor microclimatic differences between land‐use types but no alterations in soil chemical properties or free‐living microbial composition. These results demonstrate that selective logging can significantly reduce litter decomposition in tropical rainforest with no evidence of a home‐field advantage. We show that loss of key limiting nutrients from litter (P & N) is greater in selectively logged forest. Overall, the findings hint at subtle differences in microclimate overriding litter quality that result in reduced decomposition rates in selectively logged forests and potentially affect biogeochemical nutrient cycling in the long term.

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“…Formicine ants are 389 known to be capable of differentiating between colors (Camlitepe and Aksoy, 2010) and do not 390 like strong colors (Science Buddies, 2011). It is possible that the dark brown color of the 0.10% 391 Arabica matched the appearance of potential predators i.e., Anoplolepis gracilipes-a predator 392 (Konopik, et al, 2014) an experiment, worked with the black crazy ant exposed its workers to four extracts of tea with 399 different sugar contents and found a significantly greater preference for two sweetest meals over 400 those without sugar or with the least amount of sugar. In related work, Stanley and Robinson 401 (2007), when dealing with Paratrechina bourbonica exposed its workers to five baits and 402 reported sugared solutions among the most attractive baits.…”

Section: Behavioral Responses Following Arabica Exposure At Sugar Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral responses of household ants (Hymenoptera) to odor of different coffee species and formulations: Sustainability approach for green pest management strategies

Majid

Ellias

Dieng

et al. 2017

Preprint

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SUMMARYOdor sensation is a sensory modality of considerable significance in the foraging behavior and interactional organization of ants. In the food bait technology, smell is the basis of attraction, which in turn, is the initial line of bait use and a key parameter for judging efficacy. Yet, baits that are currently available possess low attractiveness to many ant pests. Hence, strategies to produce ant bait with increased attractiveness are needed. Despite evidence that coffee has a diverse aroma complex that affects the behavior of honey bees, which share many social and genetic traits with ants, its attraction to formicine foragers have yet to be investigated. In a series of Y-tube olfactometer bioassays, we examined the behavioral responses of Tapinoma indicum (TI), Monomorium pharaonis (MP) and Solenopsis geminata (SG) to various coffee-induced odor stimuli, comprised of extracts from Arabica, Robusta and Liberica. All coffee species showed an influence on the behavior of TI, MP and SG workers, but the clearest effect was seen with Arabica. The workers of TI, MP and SG were more attracted to the odor of 0.01% Arabica extract (ONE), in comparison with 0.05% Arabica extract (TWO) or 0.05% Arabica extract (THREE). Arabica extract mixed with sugar (S) elicited significant attraction from workers of all three species when in balanced competition with either unsweetened Arabica extract or water. These results indicate that coffee, particularly Arabica is attractive to the foragers of TI, MP and SG, and can encourage the use of coffee in bait development. As coffee is already accepted in most human societies, the development of coffee-based bait may be an attractive option.

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From rainforest to oil palm plantations: Shifts in predator population and prey communities, but resistant interactions

Cited by 19 publications

References 46 publications

Land use impacts poison frog chemical defenses through changes in leaf litter ant communities

Land use impacts poison frog chemical defenses through changes in leaf litter ant communities

Land use not litter quality is a stronger driver of decomposition in hyperdiverse tropical forest

Behavioral responses of household ants (Hymenoptera) to odor of different coffee species and formulations: Sustainability approach for green pest management strategies

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