Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Response to Habitat Characteristics of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests in Central Veracruz, Mexico

García-Martínez, Miguel Á.; Martínez-Tlapa, Dora L.; Pérez‐Toledo, Gibrán Renoy; Quiroz-Robledo, Luis N.; Valenzuela‐González, Jorge E.

doi:10.1653/024.099.0214

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…This pattern of differentiation in composition may be explained by the relatively high fraction of unique remnant species (34% of the total collected species) and low fraction of numerically dominant species (7%, S1 Table , S1 and S2 Figs). This result has been previously shown for leaf-litter ant assemblages associated with TMCF fragments and cattle pastures with isolated trees in the studied region [ 3 , 13 , 24 ]. Therefore, this high species turnover among remnants suggests that the maintenance of even highly disturbed riparian remnants may play a strategic role in the conservation of myrmecofauna and probably of other organisms in the severely transformed landscape of this region.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…For example, in landscapes with remnants that are wider and more complex in shape, we collected cryptic and specialist species reported for TMCF (e.g., Adelomyrmex spp., Eurhopalothrix spp., Stenamma spp., and Strumigenys spp. ; S3 Table ) [ 24 ]. In contrast, in landscapes composed of narrow and less complex riparian remnants, we found generalist species that are common in open areas and tolerant to these conditions (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Leaf-litter ants represent more than 50% of the total ant community in forest ecosystems and have high densities and species richness in tropical forest regions [ 24 – 26 ]. They play a major ecological role in these ecosystems as predators, fungus-growers, scavengers, or parasites and are sensitive to environmental changes [ 27 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The surrounding landscape influences the diversity of leaf-litter ants in riparian cloud forest remnants

et al. 2017

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Riparian vegetation is a distinctive and ecologically important element of landscapes worldwide. However, the relative influence of the surrounding landscape on the conservation of the biodiversity of riparian remnants in human-modified tropical landscapes is poorly understood. We studied the surrounding landscape to evaluate its influence on leaf-litter-ant alpha and beta diversity in riparian remnants in the tropical montane cloud forest region of central Veracruz, Mexico. Sampling was carried out in 12 sites with riparian vegetation during both rainy (2011) and dry (2012) seasons. Ten leaf-litter samples were collected along a 100-m transect per site and processed with Berlese-Tullgren funnels and Winkler sacks. Using remotely-sensed and ground-collected data, we characterized the landscape around each site according to nine land cover types and computed metrics of landscape composition and configuration. We collected a total of 8,684 ant individuals belonging to 53 species, 22 genera, 11 tribes, and 7 subfamilies. Species richness and the diversity of Shannon and Simpson increased significantly in remnants immersed in landscapes with a high percentage of riparian land cover and a low percentage of land covers with areas reforested with Pinus, cattle pastures, and human settlements and infrastructure. The composition of ant assemblages was a function of the percentage of riparian land cover in the landscape. This study found evidence that leaf-litter ants, a highly specialized guild of arthropods, are mainly impacted by landscape composition and the configuration of the focal remnant. Maintaining or improving the surrounding landscape quality of riparian vegetation remnants can stimulate the movement of biodiversity among forest and riparian remnants and foster the provision of ecosystem services by these ecosystems. Effective outcomes may be achieved by considering scientific knowledge during the early stages of riparian policy formulation, in addition to integrating riparian management strategies with broader environmental planning instruments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The surrounding landscape influences the diversity of leaf-litter ants in riparian cloud forest remnants

et al. 2017

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“…For instance, Garcia-Martinez et al (2016) showed that the diversity of ground-dwelling ant communities increases with increasing complexity and fragment size of forest vegetation in Mexico. For instance, Garcia-Martinez et al (2016) showed that the diversity of ground-dwelling ant communities increases with increasing complexity and fragment size of forest vegetation in Mexico.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The low impact of succession on ant diversity (also predicted by the rarefaction model) is quite surprising given the relatively high differences in the vegetation structure between the forest stages. For instance, Garcia-Martinez et al (2016) showed that the diversity of ground-dwelling ant communities increases with increasing complexity and fragment size of forest vegetation in Mexico. Similar trends of increasing diversity with vegetation complexity were found in other animal taxa including birds (Soh et al 2006, Gomes et al 2008 and moths (Axmacher et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary succession has surprisingly low impact on arboreal ant communities in tropical montane rainforest

et al. 2019

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Understanding forest regeneration processes is increasingly important as disturbed forests spread rapidly in tropical landscapes. While successional dynamics are relatively well-understood for plants, they remain poorly known for tropical insects, particularly in montane rainforests and tree canopies. We studied the effect of montane forest succession on arboreal ant communities in New Guinea near their natural elevational limit (1800 m a.s.l.). We censused ant species and nests in replicated 0.1-ha plots of primary, old and young secondary forests, destined to be felled for gardens by the local landowners. Overall, 1249 felled trees were dissected for all ant-associated microhabitats. We used rarefaction-based models manipulating vegetation structure and multivariate randomizations to assess the effects of tree density, tree size, and nesting microhabitats on the ant communities. We expected increased ant species diversity, microhabitat specialization, and species turnover among trees throughout the succession, with distinct community composition among the stages. In contrast to our expectations, ant species composition and diversity per plot did not change during succession, and species similarity among trees was significantly higher only in old secondary forest. The number of ant species per tree increased with forest age, but trees of similar size hosted only slightly more species in primary than secondary forests. Many ant species were associated with particular nesting microhabitats; however, the same microhabitat types occurred in all stages and thus did not generate successional trends in ant communities. Secondary succession had an unexpectedly low impact on tree-dwelling ant communities in this montane ecosystem, in contrast with our previous findings from lowland rainforests. These results highlight the need to study successional processes along entire elevational gradients, as montane taxa may react differently to vegetation changes than their lowland counterparts.

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Species Diversity of Three Faunal Communities Along a Successional Cloud Forest Gradient

Díaz-García

López‐Barrera

Pineda

et al. 2023

Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis

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Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Response to Habitat Characteristics of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests in Central Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

The surrounding landscape influences the diversity of leaf-litter ants in riparian cloud forest remnants

The surrounding landscape influences the diversity of leaf-litter ants in riparian cloud forest remnants

Secondary succession has surprisingly low impact on arboreal ant communities in tropical montane rainforest

Species Diversity of Three Faunal Communities Along a Successional Cloud Forest Gradient

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