Size matters: mole (Talpa europaea) hills and nest-site selection of the ant Formica exsecta |
| |
Authors: | Andreas Katzerke Peter Bliss Robin F. A. Moritz |
| |
Affiliation: | Institut für Biologie, Institutsbereich Zoologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 4, 06099 Halle (Saale), Germany |
| |
Abstract: | Moles are fossorial mammals that can act both as zoogeomorphic agents and species diversity drivers. These popular animals regularly push heaps of earth from their subterranean tunnel systems to the surface. Thereby they rearrange and improve the local microtopography for ant nesting. Here we use a strongly molehill (Talpa europaea) mediated nest system of the unicolonial wood ant Formica (Coptoformica) exsecta to test for ecological factors influencing nest-site selection at the microhabitat scale. Our results show that the size of molehills plays an important role in the multifactorial process of the ant’s nest-site choice with solar insolation as a paramount factor. The ants clearly favored larger and better sun-exposed molehills, suggesting that the coaction of a zoogeomorphic modified microrelief and solar insolation can drive the spatial colonization of F. exsecta. |
| |
Keywords: | Fossorial mammals Microhabitat quality Mound-building ants Nest-site choice Solar insolation Zoogeomorphic microtopography |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |