Using Ants as bioindicators:  Multiscale Issues in Ant Community Ecology

Andersen, Alan N.

doi:10.5751/es-00014-010108

Cited by 219 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…However, Brachymyrmex musculus and Dorymyrmex pyramicus were significantly more abundant during the morning. This pattern has been previously recorded for these same ant species in other studies (Tobin, 1994;Andersen, 1997;Davidson, 1997). It has been proposed that the greater abundance of these ant species during the morning is associated with their behavior as submissive opportunists (Andersen, 2010).…”

Section: Abundance Species Richness and Diversity Of Antssupporting

confidence: 55%

Effect of disturbance on the ant community in a semiarid region of Central Mexico

Rivas-Arancibia¹

2014

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. Ants have been used as indicators of disturbííííance, because of their fast response to environmental changes. However, it is not well defined which disturbance factors are associated with specific changes on the ant community. We evaluated the effect of disturbance on the ant community in a xeric community from central Mexico. Two sites with contrasting levels of disturbance were chosen based on a quantitative index. We compared ant abundance, ant diversity and the main disturbance factors affecting the ant community. Also, we identified the bioindicator species of ants and the feeding guilds. Soil compaction and cattle paths were the most important factors of disturbance within the study sites. These factors probably affect the community of ants by preventing them from colonizing the surrounding vegetation as well as from nesting in the soil. Ant diversity was lower in the disturbed site than in the conserved one. Four ant species were identified as bioindicators of disturbance. Although functional diversity did not differ between sites, the guild of granivore ants was the most affected by soil compaction. This is of great importance because the foraging patterns of granivore ants determining the structure and other aspects of the plant community.

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Section: Abundance Species Richness and Diversity Of Antssupporting

confidence: 55%

Effect of disturbance on the ant community in a semiarid region of Central Mexico

Rivas-Arancibia¹

2014

Appl Ecol Env Res

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“…For example, of the 71 species of the genus Strumigenys described in a recent revision, 70 were endemic and newly described (Fisher 2000). Although ants dominate the biomass of most terrestrial communities (Davidson 1997;Davidson et al 2003), are critical pollinators and seed dispersers (Beattie 1985;Ness et al 2004), and are critical to nutrient cycling and ecosystem function (Thorp 1949;Majer 1983;Andersen 1993;Andersen 1997;Diehl et al 2004), there is a global lack of studies of ant diversity or community structure. This may be largely because of the difficulty of species-level identifications (Bolton 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA barcoding for effective biodiversity assessment of a hyperdiverse arthropod group: the ants of Madagascar

Smith

Fisher

Hebert

2005

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

415

363

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The role of DNA barcoding as a tool to accelerate the inventory and analysis of diversity for hyperdiverse arthropods is tested using ants in Madagascar. We demonstrate how DNA barcoding helps address the failure of current inventory methods to rapidly respond to pressing biodiversity needs, specifically in the assessment of richness and turnover across landscapes with hyperdiverse taxa. In a comparison of inventories at four localities in northern Madagascar, patterns of richness were not significantly different when richness was determined using morphological taxonomy (morphospecies) or sequence divergence thresholds (Molecular Operational Taxonomic Unit(s); MOTU). However, sequence-based methods tended to yield greater richness and significantly lower indices of similarity than morphological taxonomy. MOTU determined using our molecular technique were a remarkably local phenomenon-indicative of highly restricted dispersal and/or long-term isolation. In cases where molecular and morphological methods differed in their assignment of individuals to categories, the morphological estimate was always more conservative than the molecular estimate. In those cases where morphospecies descriptions collapsed distinct molecular groups, sequence divergences of 16% (on average) were contained within the same morphospecies. Such high divergences highlight taxa for further detailed genetic, morphological, life history, and behavioral studies.

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“…As it was stated in the Introduction, ants are regarded as suitable objects for ecological monitoring (Agosti et al 2000, New 2000, Underwood and Fisher 2006 because of their easy sampling and sensitive indicator character (Andersen 1997, Andersen and Majer 2004, Hoffmann and Andersen 2004, Hodkinson and Jackson 2005, Hoffmann 2010). Monitoring handbooks and manuals (e.g., Elzinga et al 2001, Hill et al 2005, however, frequently disregard ants as an invertebrate reference group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impoverishes and homogenizes ants’ community structure: a long term study

Gallé

2017

Community Ecology

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Climate change brings along trend-like changes as well as changes in the temporal variations in environmental conditions which interact with the biological dynamics of ecological systems. Therefore, only studies covering several decades may unveil long term trends in ecological systems, such as in animal communities. To demonstrate if recent climatic changes have caused fundamental changes in the structure of a key arthropod community, I studied the long-term dynamics of ant colonies for 37 years on a sandy grassland in central Hungary. To be able to monitor colonies -the natural units of ant communities -with the possible least disturbance, I applied two grids of a total of 80 slate plates as artificial nesting sites. Prior to the presented study, a well-defined spatial ant community structure had been identified in the studied habitat, which consisted of three species groups (dune top, transitional and dune slack groups), occupying different habitat patches. During the study period 2813 nests of 11 ant species were recorded under the slates. Over the 37 years, community pattern markedly changed, dune slack species disappeared from the studied plots, while the frequency of drought-tolerant dune top species increased by a significant trend. No significant trend was observed in the case of the transitional species group. On the species population level, two species, Lasius niger and Formica cunicularia, showed an intensive population decline; while the Plagiolepis taurica population significantly increased and spatially joined the transitional species group in the dune slack in the second half of the project. These changes led to a major decline in species richness and a homogenization of species composition across habitat patches. Multiple correlation analyses revealed that the depletion of groundwater had the strongest relationship with these population trends. The study indicates that climate change can be linked to a fundamental change in the community structure of major ecosystem actors.

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Using Ants as bioindicators: Multiscale Issues in Ant Community Ecology

Abstract: Abstract•

Cited by 219 publications

References 28 publications

Effect of disturbance on the ant community in a semiarid region of Central Mexico

Effect of disturbance on the ant community in a semiarid region of Central Mexico

DNA barcoding for effective biodiversity assessment of a hyperdiverse arthropod group: the ants of Madagascar

Climate change impoverishes and homogenizes ants’ community structure: a long term study

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