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Torres, Juan A.; Snelling, Roy R.

doi:10.1023/a:1018332117719

Cited by 34 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Lower R 2 values are present at higher levels of precipitation (see Figure 4), illustrating that area effects explain less of the variation in ant species richness as precipitation increases. Our results also agree with other studies on insular ants that show the effect of habitat diversity as being as important as area when predicting species richness (Goldstein, 1975;Torres & Snelling, 1997).…”

Section: Dataset 1: Climatic Drivers Of the Isarsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…One clear way forward with ants is to consider variables such as habitat diversity in the context of competing hypotheses. It is unarguable that habitat diversity is an influential factor affecting ant ISARs (Torres & Snelling, 1997;Wilson, 1961) and, in some cases, habitat diversity measures have been incorporated as covariates within the log-log ISAR model (e.g., as variables quantifying soil clay content) (Goldstein, 1975).…”

Section: Incorporation Of Habitat Diversity and Other Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, studies of biogeographical histories (Choi et al, 1993;Ranta et al, 1983;Trainor & Andersen, 2010) and speciation processes on islands illustrate the variability of the ant ISAR across the globe (Economo et al, 2017;Wilson, 1961). Second, habitat diversity exerts a persistent and significant influence (Boomsma et al, 1987;Goldstein, 1975;Torres & Snelling, 1997;Wilson, 1961) as does elevation on insular (Morrison, 1997) or mainland (Sanders, 2002) ant diversity. Third, while dispersal is known to be an important driver of ISAR form (MacArthur & Wilson, 1967), its effect is less well studied in ants compared to other taxa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, we expect certain climatic variables that track habitat diversity to negatively affect the rate of which ant diversity increases with area. Finally, competitive interactions (Wilson & Taylor, 1967) and microhabitat diversity (Goldstein, 1975;Torres & Snelling, 1997) could constrain the species richness of ants on small islands, while processes such as speciation are more likely to influence diversity on larger islands (Economo et al, 2017;Wilson, 1961). 4) are there thresholds in ant ISARs?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The species–area relationship in ant ecology

Ohyama

Holt

Matthews

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim:The positive relationship between species richness and area-the species-area relationship (SAR)-is a key principle in ecology. Previous studies show large variation in the SAR across taxa collectively indicating the necessity of a taxon-focused approach to accurately evaluate biodiversity scaling patterns. Ants are ideal for this given their global distribution and role in ecosystem functioning. Using data from insular ant communities, this study quantified and investigated various attributes of ant SARs and reviewed the SAR literature for ant faunas, world-wide, to identify specific areas for improvement.Location: Islands around the world.Taxon: Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Methods:We aggregated data on species richness and island characteristics from previous studies on ant SARs to evaluate effects of climate, biogeographic realm, and latitude on slope values from these studies. A multimodel inference approach was used to determine the form of the different SARs, and whether there were any differences between mainland and insular SARs. We also assessed differences between mainland and insular SAR slopes and intercepts. To seek a general slope coefficient for ants, we used a mixed-effect model. Finally, we tested for potential thresholds in the global insular SAR using piecewise regression models.Results: There was a negative relationship between SAR slopes and precipitation in both mainland and insular SARs, while SAR slopes and intercept values were higher in mainland compared to insular systems. Strong evidence of thresholds emerged in the global insular SAR. Finally, a general slope of 0.16 was observed for insular systems, which is lower than found in previous studies. Main Conclusions:A taxon-focused approach proves to showcase unexpected patterns in the SAR. Ant diversity increases faster across area in mainland areas compared to true islands. The influences of climate and biogeographic realms on the ant SAR warrant deeper study. Our review highlights knowledge gaps in the ant SAR that also extend to other taxa, such as the effects of nonnative species on the SAR.

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Section: Dataset 1: Climatic Drivers Of the Isarsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Incorporation Of Habitat Diversity and Other Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The species–area relationship in ant ecology

Ohyama

Holt

Matthews

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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“…(2007) found only 14 species in the LEF using a combination of Berlese funnels, baits, and arboreal traps, whereas a report by Lavigne (1970) notes 30 species. Work by Torres and Snelling (1997) lists 71 species, except this is from a survey across the entire main island of Puerto Rico and includes other affiliated islands. Thus, our sampling appeared to capture the faunal diversity of litter associated ants in the LEF.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant communities respond to a large‐scale disturbance along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico, U.S.A.

O'Meara,

Yee

2024

Biotropica

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Large scale disturbances are known to significantly alter aspects of both species diversity and ecosystem function. In the Caribbean, hurricane events are a significant form of disturbance, the effects of which have been shown to alter food web function, especially in the terrestrial environment. Although hurricanes have been studied from a variety of their effects on ecosystems, there is little research on how these storms affect species along elevational gradients. Within terrestrial habitats, ants form the basis of many food webs, being both numerically dominant and functioning in a variety of roles within the food web. On September 20th, 2017 Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm, crossed over the island of Puerto Rico, causing significant damage to both human and natural systems. We collected data on ant abundance and composition from 150 samples of leaf litter along a 700 m elevational gradient during June the year of and after the storm event. Ant abundance increased by 400% after the storm with many common ant species seeming to benefit, especially at lower elevations. There were subtle changes in ant richness, with declines generally after the storm, but yet again this response was dependent on elevation. This is one of the first studies to consider how terrestrial insect communities are affected by large hurricane events across elevations, and our results are in contrast to past work showing declines in ant abundance after such storms.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

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