On the geography of activity: productivity but not temperature constrains discovery rates by ectotherm consumers

Kaspari, Michael; Beurs, Kirsten M. de

doi:10.1002/ecs2.2536

Cited by 10 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…Previous studies have shown that ant abundance is higher in less seasonal and more productive environments (e.g. Kaspari et al, 2000; Kaspari & de Beurs, 2019). This may be because ants are able to harvest more energy due to their foraging for longer periods throughout the year in more climatically stable environments (Kaspari et al, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…This may be because ants are able to harvest more energy due to their foraging for longer periods throughout the year in more climatically stable environments (Kaspari et al, 2000). In addition, there is greater energy and carbon availability for individuals in more productive environments, which also increases abundance (Kaspari & de Beurs, 2019). Thus, higher ant abundances may also be correlated with greater foraging activity in productive environments with low‐temperature seasonality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the potential influence of NPP and climate drivers on foraging behaviour, most studies of foraging activity patterns and resource use have focused mainly on the effects of temperature and net primary productivity (e.g. Kaspari & de Beurs, 2019). Furthermore, most have not directly assessed foraging activity but have instead used indirect measurements such as counting the number of individuals in a trap and bite marks in artificial plasticine animals (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity

Lasmar

Bishop

Parr

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: Foraging activity is critical for animal survival. Comprehending how ecological drivers influence foraging behaviour would benefit our understanding of the link between animals and ecological processes. Here, we evaluated the influence of ecological drivers on ant foraging activity and relative resource use.Location: Six Brazilian biomes: Amazon, Atlantic rainforest, Caatinga, Cerrado, Pampa and Pantanal.Taxon: Formicidae. Methods:We assessed ant foraging activity and resource use by sampling across 60 sites. We placed baited tubes that contained one of five liquid resources (sugar, lipids, amino acid, sodium and distilled water). We used model selection to assess the influence of ecological drivers (temperature, precipitation, temperature seasonality and net primary productivity) on ant foraging activity and relative resource use. Results:Foraging activity was higher in wetter, more productive and less thermally seasonal environments. The relative use of amino acids increased at higher temperatures while the relative use of lipids decreased. The relative use of sugar increased in drier and less productive environments with high-temperature seasonality while the relative use of amino acid and sodium decreased in those environments. The relative use of lipids was complex: increasing with increasing temperature seasonality and decreasing with increasing precipitation. Furthermore, the relative use of sodium was greater where the foraging activity was high. Main conclusions:We demonstrate how ecological drivers are correlated with ant foraging activity and resource use in the field across large spatial scales. The search for resources encompasses different interactions involving ants with abiotic and biotic components in the ecosystem. Thus, we suggest that changes in climate and NPP, which influence the intensity and the way that ants search for resources, will result in changes in ant-mediated ecological processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity

Lasmar

Bishop

Parr

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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“…We found a weak trend ( r 2 = .04) in the opposite direction. It is possible that, for a given amount of plant Na in a grassland ecosystem, further increasing animal biomass provides other nutrients such as protein, fat, lipids and minerals that may be co‐limiting (Kaspari & de Beurs, ). If true, it would suggest that experimentally adding necromass (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nutritional geography of ants: Gradients of sodium and sugar limitation across North American grasslands

Kaspari

Welti

Beurs

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Sugar and sodium are essential nutrients to above‐ and below‐ground consumers. Unlike other properties of ecological communities such as abundance and richness, we know relatively little about nutritional geography—the sources and supply rates of nutrients, and how and why they vary across communities and ecosystems. Towards a remedy, we present a suite of hypotheses for how sodium and sugary exudate availability should vary for a common omnivore—the ants—and test them using a survey of 53 North American grasslands. We do so by running transects of salt and sugar baits and inferring the magnitude of environmental supplies as the inverse of their use as exogenous baits. We then use estimates of potential drivers of the availability of salt and sugary exudates—plant and soil nutrients, and bioclimatic variables—to test the best predictors of sodium and salt use by ant communities. Beyond a baseline of ant activity, salt use increased as an inverse of the amount of sodium in an ecosystem's plant tissue, but not its soils. Plant sodium varied by two orders of magnitude in grasslands across 16° latitude. This suggests that plant exudates are an important source of sodium for grassland consumers. The three drivers that best predict exogenous sugar use by ants all point to factors constraining sugar production: net above‐ground productivity, how far the community is into that year's growing season (both reflecting the rates of photosynthesis) and, intriguingly, the potassium content of plant tissue, which is likely linked to exudate production via plant turgor. These data suggest that ants and other consumers across a range of grasslands and climate vary significantly in the demand and supply of sugar and salt. This nutritional geography ultimately arises from gradients of climate and biogeochemistry with implications for the geography of plant–consumer interactions.

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“…Ants were the main arthropod predator in our boreal site; several nests of Formica aquilonia were located within the study area, and some of them were as close as two meters from the experimental plants. In the tropics, arthropod predation in tree crowns is also dominated by ants, but their abundance, diversity and activity are considerably higher there than in other environments (Jeanne 1979;Floren et al 2014;Kaspari and de Beurs 2019). Some researchers raise concerns about whether arthropod predators perceive modelling clay caterpillars as real prey because the models do not possess the chemical cues important for prey recognition by many invertebrate predators (Vet and Dicke 1992).…”

Section: Between-site Differences In Predation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down factors contribute to differences in insect herbivory between saplings and mature trees in boreal and tropical forests

2020

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Ontogenetic changes in herbivory are generally not consistent with ontogenetic changes in defensive traits of woody plants. This inconsistency suggests that other factors may affect ontogenetic trajectories in herbivory. We tested the hypothesis that top-down factors contribute to differences in foliar losses to insects between juvenile and mature trees in tropical and boreal forests. We used artificial caterpillars made of modelling clay to compare predation rates between saplings and mature trees of two common forest species, Siparuna guianensis in Brazil (tropical site) and Betula pubescens in Finland (boreal site). Leaf area losses to chewing insects in saplings were 2.5-fold higher than in mature trees in both species. Physical plant defences (measured as specific leaf area, SLA) did not differ between saplings and mature trees in the boreal forest, whereas in the tropical forest, SLA was greater in saplings than in mature trees. Attack rates on the model prey by birds were higher in the boreal forest, whereas attack rates by arthropod predators were higher in the tropical forest. Overall, predation rates on model prey were consistently higher on mature trees than on saplings at both sites, but in the boreal site, this pattern was primarily driven by birds, whereas in the tropical site, it was primarily driven by arthropod predators. We conclude that the effect of predation on herbivorous insects may considerably contribute to ontogenetic differences in herbivory, but the relative roles of different predatory groups and of top-down and bottom-up factors may vary between environments.

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On the geography of activity: productivity but not temperature constrains discovery rates by ectotherm consumers

Cited by 10 publications

References 28 publications

Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity

Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity

The nutritional geography of ants: Gradients of sodium and sugar limitation across North American grasslands

Top-down factors contribute to differences in insect herbivory between saplings and mature trees in boreal and tropical forests

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