The ecosystem services provided by social insects: traits, management tools and knowledge gaps

Elizalde, Luciana; Arbetman, Marina P.; Arnán, Xavier; Eggleton, Paul; Leal, Inara R.; Lescano, María Natalia; Sáez, Agustín; Werenkraut, Victoria; Pirk, Gabriela Inés

doi:10.1111/brv.12616

Cited by 87 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 371 publications

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“…Termites play an important but under-recognized role in the functioning of tropical ecosystems (Bonachela et al, 2015;Ashton et al, 2019;Elizalde et al, 2020). Though best known as pests, fewer than 10% of the 3,000 termite species are categorized as such (Rouland-Lefèvre, 2011), while the majority are integral in carbon and nutrient cycling, breaking down wood, soil, grass and leaf litter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

et al. 2021

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Termites are important ecosystem engineers in tropical habitats, with different feeding groups able to decompose wood, grass, litter, and soil organic matter. In most tropical regions, termite abundance and species diversity are assumed to increase with rainfall, with highest levels found in rainforests. However, in the Australian tropics, this pattern is thought to be reversed, with lower species richness and termite abundance found in rainforest than drier habitats. The potential mechanisms underlying this pattern remain unclear. We compared termite assemblages (abundance, activity, diversity, and feeding group composition) across five sites along a precipitation gradient (ranging from ∼800 to 4,000 mm annual rainfall), spanning dry and wet savanna habitats, wet sclerophyll, and lowland and upland rainforests in tropical North Queensland. Moving from dry to wet habitats, we observed dramatic decreases in termite abundance in both mounds and dead wood occupancy, with greater abundance and activity at savanna sites (low precipitation) compared with rainforest or sclerophyll sites (high precipitation). We also observed a turnover in termite species and feeding group diversity across sites that were close together, but in different habitats. Termite species and feeding group richness were highest in savanna sites, with 13 termite species from wood-, litter-, grass-, dung-, and soil-feeding groups, while only five termite species were encountered in rainforest and wet sclerophyll sites—all wood feeders. These results suggest that the Australian termite diversity anomaly may be partly driven by how specific feeding groups colonized habitats across Australia. Consequently, termites in Australian rainforests may be less important in ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nutrient cycling during decomposition, compared with termites in other tropical rainforests.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

et al. 2021

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“…These groups are rarely evaluated, including in biogeographical analyses (Cardoso et al, 2020), yet they are highly significant due to their hyperdiversification and broad distributions (Peters et al, 2017). Furthermore, they have special economic value, considering the ecosystem services they provide, such as pollination and secondary seed dispersal (Elizalde et al, 2020). They are also of high conservation value in terms of environmental well‐being and are irreplaceable to ecological integrity (Samways et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the effects of latitudinal and elevational gradients on bee, wasp, and ant diversity in an ancient neotropical mountain range

Perillo

Castro

Solar

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Ancient tropical mountains are megadiverse, yet little is known about the distribution of their species. We aimed to disentangle the effects of latitudinal and elevational gradients on the distribution of species of Aculeata and to understand the effects of climatic variables across different spatial scales of diversity (α‐, γ‐, and β‐diversity). Location Campo rupestre in the Espinhaço Mountain Range, Southeast Brazil. Taxon Bees, wasps, and ants (Aculeata: Hymenoptera). Methods We used a unique dataset built from sampling species of Aculeata at 24 study sites across 12 mountains, covering 1200 km from south to north and an elevational range of 1000 to 2000 m. We explored the elevational and latitudinal patterns of α‐ (site), γ‐ (mountain), and β‐diversity among samples at each location (βLocal). We also tested the effect of elevational range on β‐diversity in each mountain (βMountain) and, on a larger scale (βRegional), if β‐diversity is influenced by geographical and environmental distances. Finally, we tested whether climatic variables underpin the observed patterns. Results Latitude had no effect on diversity. We found a decrease in both site and mountain diversity and, only for bees, βLocal increased with elevation. Climatic variables (temperature, wind, and precipitation) and their interactions were important drivers of diversity, with temperature being the most important. Finally, βMountain increased with mountain elevation range, and βRegional increased with the geographical and environmental distances. Main conclusions Our results showed that variation in species richness and composition across mountains is strongly associated with elevational gradient, which showed stronger climatic variation than latitudinal gradient. Therefore, despite having narrow elevational ranges, the biogeographical effects of tropical mountains drive high diversity. Facing global climate changes, this limited elevational gradient may limit species range shifts, leading to severe biodiversity losses.

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“…bioindicators, recreation) (MEA, 2005;Noriega et al, 2018). One review of ESs by insects identified 42 specific roles (Noriega et al, 2018); another recent review of the ESs of social insects identified 10 roles (Elizalde et al, 2020). Here we use the same approach to identify 10 ways through which aculeate wasps (solitary and social) provide ESs (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem services provided by aculeate wasps

2021

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The aculeate wasps are one of the most diverse and speciose insect taxa; they are omnipresent across ecosystems and exhibit diverse co‐evolutionary and exploitative associations with other organisms. There is widespread conjecture that aculeate wasps are likely to perform essential ecological and economic services of importance to the health, well‐being and nutritional needs of our planet. However, the scope and nature of the ecosystem services they provide are not well understood relative to other insect groups (e.g. bees, butterflies, beetles); an appreciation of their value is further tarnished by their public reputation as pointless pests. Here, we conduct the first comprehensive review of how aculeate wasps contribute to the four main areas of ecosystem services: regulatory, provisioning, supporting and cultural services. Uniting data from a large but previously disconnected literature on solitary and social aculeate wasps, we provide a synthesis on how these insects perform important ecosystem services as parasites, predators, biological indicators, pollinators, decomposers and seed dispersers; and their additional services as a sustainable alternative to meat for human consumption, and medicinal potential as sources of research leads for anti‐microbials and cancer treatments. We highlight how aculeate wasps offer substantial, but largely overlooked, economic benefits through their roles in natural pest management and biological control programs. Accordingly, we provide data‐driven arguments for reasons to consider the ecosystem service value of aculeate wasps on a par with other ‘useful’ insects (e.g. bees). Finally, we provide a research roadmap identifying the key areas of research required to capitalise better on the services provided by these important insects.

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The ecosystem services provided by social insects: traits, management tools and knowledge gaps

Cited by 87 publications

References 371 publications

Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

Disentangling the effects of latitudinal and elevational gradients on bee, wasp, and ant diversity in an ancient neotropical mountain range

Ecosystem services provided by aculeate wasps

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