Spatial and functional structure of an entire ant assemblage in a lowland Panamanian rainforest |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, 1000 Brussels, Belgium;2. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, 1050 Brussels, Belgium;3. Université Clermont-Auvergne, CNRS, LMGE, Clermont-Ferrand, France;4. Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Convênio UESC/UFSB, 45600-970 Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil;5. Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual Santa Cruz, 45662-900 Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil;6. CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, Inrae, Université des Antilles, Université de la Guyane, Kourou, France;7. Cirad, Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des populations, 34988 Montferrier-sur-Lez, France;8. Am Ehrenbach 8, 91356 Kirchehrenbach, Germany;9. Maestria de Entomologia, Universidad de Panamá, 080814 Panama City, Republic of Panama;10. Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil;11. Laboratório de Zoologia de Invertebrados, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, 45200-000 Jequié, Bahia, Brazil;12. Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse INP, Université Toulouse 3 – Paul Sabatier (UPS), Toulouse 2 CNRS, France;13. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia;14. CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, WA, 6014 Australia;15. Universität Würzburg, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, 97070 Würzburg, Germany;p. Laboratory of Ecology of Diseases & Forests NUPEB/ICEB, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil;q. Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürenberg, Department of Biology, Erlangen, Germany;r. California State Collection of Arthropods, CDFA, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA, 95832, USA;s. University of Victoria, Biology Department, PO Box 3020, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada;t. University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology and Conservation Ecology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic;u. ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon;1. Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Roosevelt Road, Section 4, Taipei, 106, Taiwan;2. Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Graduate School of Agriculture and Agricultural Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan;3. Department of Biology, National Changhua University of Education, No. 1, Jinde Road, Changhua 500, Taiwan |
| |
| Abstract: | Ants are a major ecological group in tropical rainforests. Few studies in the Neotropics have documented the distribution of ants from the ground to the canopy, and none have included the understorey. A previous analysis of an intensive arthropod study in Panama, involving 11 sampling methods, showed that the factors influencing ant β diversity (i.e., changes in assemblage composition) were, in decreasing order of importance, the vertical (height), temporal (season), and horizontal (geographic distance) dimensions. In the present study, we went one step further and aimed (1) to identify the best sampling methods to study the entire ant assemblage across the three strata, (2) to test if all strata show a similar horizontal β diversity and (3) to analyze the functional structure of the entire ant assemblage. We identified 405 ant species from 11 subfamilies and 68 genera. Slightly more species were sampled in the canopy than on the ground; they belonged to distinct sub-assemblages. The understorey fauna was mainly a mixture of species found in the other two strata. The horizontal β diversity between sites was similar for the three strata. About half of the ant species foraged in two (29%) or three (25%) strata. A single method, aerial flight interception traps placed alongside tree trunks, acting as arboreal pitfall traps, collected half of the species and reflected the vertical stratification. Using the functional traits approach, we observed that generalist species with mid-sized colonies were by far the most numerous (31%), followed by ground- or litter-dwelling species, either specialists (20%), or generalists (16%), and arboreal species, either generalists (19%) or territorially dominant (8%), and finally army ants (5%). Our results reinforce the idea that a proper understanding of the functioning of ant assemblages requires the inclusion of arboreal ants in survey programs. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
