Ant Diversity Studies 2015

The number of contemporary publications that focus on ant communities and ant biodiversity shows that these topics continue to be strong areas of interest. This page is a place to begin to gather a list of publications, however incomplete, published about these topics.

A - L (by first author)

 * Boucher, P., C. Hebert, A. Francoeur, and L. Sirois. 2015. Postfire Succession of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Nesting in Dead Wood of Northern Boreal Forest. Environmental Entomology. 44:1316-1327. doi:10.1093/ee/nvv109

ABSTRACT Dead wood decomposition begins immediately after tree death and involves a large array of invertebrates. Ecological successions are still poorly known for saproxylic organisms, particularly in boreal forests. We investigated the use of dead wood as nesting sites for ants along a 60-yr postfire chronosequence in northeastern coniferous forests. We sampled a total of 1,625 pieces of dead wood, in which 263 ant nests were found. Overall, ant abundance increased during the first 30 yr after wildfire, and then declined. Leptothorax cf. canadensis, the most abundant species in our study, was absent during the first 2 yr postfire, but increased steadily until 30 yr after fire, whereas Myrmica alaskensis, second in abundance, was found at all stages of succession in the chronosequence. Six other species were less frequently found, among which Camponotus herculeanus, Formica neorufibarbis, and Formica aserva were locally abundant, but more scarcely distributed. Dead wood lying on the ground and showing numerous woodborer holes had a higher probability of being colonized by ants. The C:N ratio was lower for dead wood colonized by ants than for noncolonized dead wood, showing that the continuous occupation of dead wood by ants influences the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of dead wood after wildfire in northern boreal forests.


 * Cantarelli, E. B., M. D. Fleck, F. Granzotto, J. D. N. Corassa, and M. d'Avila. 2015. Diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of litter in different systems of soil use. Ciencia Florestal. 25:607-616.

ABSTRACT: Litter ant species found in four sites located in northwestern Rio Grande do Sul state were listed in this study to verify the impact of human activities conducted in rural areas. The method used for the collection of litter ants was the Winkler extractor. There were collected 6,300 specimens belonging to eight subfamilies, 18 tribes, 31 genera and 108 species. Native forest presented the highest richness observed with 90 species collected, followed by 65 eucalyptus species, and agriculture and pasture with 20 exotic species each. Margalef's diversity index was 11.21 for area with native forest, 8.37 for eucalypt, 3.48 for agriculture, and 2.71 in exotic pasture area. The Shannon's diversity indices obtained were 2.89, 3.15, 2.43 and 1.98 and equitability indices of 0.64, 0.75, 0.84 and 0.66 for areas with native forest, eucalyptus, agriculture and exotic pasture, respectively. The highest diversity index for the eucalypt area may be due to the age of the forest (28 years) and the fact that it has not been managed as well as due to the presence of understory of native species, forming a continuous canopy and thick litter layer. On the other hand, since the native forest has suffered human interventions, it has a lower Shannon's diversity index compared to the eucalypt area.


 * Dejean, A., S. Groc, B. Herault, H. Rodriguez-Perez, A. Touchard, R. Cereghino, J. H. C. Delabie, and B. Corbara. 2015. Bat aggregation mediates the functional structure of ant assemblages. Comptes Rendus Biologies. 338:688-695. doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2015.06.011

In the Guianese rainforest, we examined the impact of the presence of guano in and around a bat roosting site (a cave). We used ant communities as an indicator to evaluate this impact because they occupy a central place in the functioning of tropical rainforest ecosystems and they play different roles in the food web as they can be herbivores, generalists, scavengers or predators. The ant species richness around the cave did not differ from a control sample situated 500 m away. Yet, the comparison of functional groups resulted in significantly greater numbers of detritivorous fungus-growing and predatory ant colonies around the cave compared to the control, the contrary being true for nectar and honeydew feeders. The role of bats, through their guano, was shown using stable isotope analyses as we noted significantly greater δ15N values for the ant species captured in and around the cave compared to controls.


 * Diame, L., R. Blatrix, I. Grechi, J. Y. Rey, C. A. B. Sane, J. F. Vayssieres, H. de Bon, and K. Diarra. 2015. Relations between the design and management of Senegalese orchards and ant diversity and community composition. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment. 212:94-105. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2015.07.004

Abstract. Although agriculture is a major factor in environmental change, the level of its impact is likely to vary with farming practices. Thus, we sought to determine how farming practices might affect the natural compartment of agroecosystems and the sustainable use of land. In particular, we examined ant biodiversity and community composition as related to orchard design and management practices in the mango- and citrus-based orchard agroecosystems of Senegal. Ants were collected using pitfall traps in 49 orchards classed in four types based on their design and management. The results showed that the effect of practices was significant, albeit weak, and a typology of orchards based on design and management practices was congruent with a typology based on the composition of ant communities. The different types of orchard were seen to differ in the richness and diversity ant species. Moreover, ant richness and diversity was positively correlated with tree richness. We were also able to identify some ant species as being related to agricultural practices. For instance, Monomorium salomonis (L.) was closely associated with high irrigation, fertilization and pesticide use, whereas Paltothyreus tarsatus was associated with greater tree richness, high local ground coverage by the tree canopy, more leaf litter and great variation in the local tree planting density. This study appears to be the first attempt to characterise the relations existing between orchard design and management practices and the functioning of Sahelian fruit-based agroecosystems thereby furthering the goal of providing recommendations for sustainable management strategies.


 * Gillette, P. N., K. K. Ennis, G. D. Martinez, and S. M. Philpott. 2015. Changes in Species Richness, Abundance, and Composition of Arboreal Twig-nesting Ants Along an Elevational Gradient in Coffee Landscapes. Biotropica. 47:712-722. doi:10.1111/btp.12263

Abstract: The distribution, diversity, and assembly of tropical insects have long intrigued ecologists, and for tropical ants, can be affected by competitive interactions, microhabitat requirements, dispersal, and availability and diversity of nesting sites. Arboreal twig-nesting ants are limited by the number of hollow twigs available, especially in intensive agricultural systems. Ant diversity and abundance may shift along elevation gradients, but no studies have examined if the proportion of occupied twigs or richness of arboreal twig-nesting ants vary with elevation. In coffee agroecosystems, there are over 40 species of arboreal twig-nesting ants. We examined communities of twig-nesting ants in coffee plants along an elevational gradient to answer the following questions: (1) Do species richness and colony abundance decline with elevation or show a mid-elevation peak? (2) Does community composition change with elevation? (3) Is elevation an important predictor of change in ant abundance, richness, and relative abundance of common species? We surveyed 42 10 × 10 m plots in 2013 from 450 to1550 m elevation across a coffee landscape in Chiapas, Mexico. We sampled a total of 2211 hollow coffee twigs, 77.1 percent of which were occupied by one of 28 species of ants. Pseudomyrmex simplex was more abundant in lower elevations, whereas Pseudomyrmex ejectus dominated in high elevations. Species richness and the percent of occupied hollow twigs both peaked at mid-elevations (800–1050 m). In sum, we found that species richness, abundance, and composition of arboreal twig-nesting ants shift with elevation. These findings may provide important insights for understanding ant communities in coffee agroecosystems.

...and other conclusions (p720) from this study: In sum, elevation was correlated with changes in hollow twig occupation by ants, ant species richness, estimated ant species richness, relative abundance of common species, and community composition of arboreal twig-nesting ants in coffee agroecosystems across the Soconusco region of Chiapas. Species richness and colony abundance peaked at mid-elevations. Some species were influenced by hollow twig availability, vegetation complexity or both, but elevation was an important factor for all ant-related variables examined. Individual species of ants interact differently in the complex food web, carrying out unique functions (Vandermeer et al. 2010). Ants serve as important indicator species (Hoffmann & Andersen 2003), and moreover, ants in coffee agroecosystems play an important role in pest control (De la Mora et al. 2008, Larsen & Philpott 2010, Gonthier et al. 2013). Thus, the results demonstrating changes in relative abundance of certain ant species with changes in vegetation complexity, and changes in ant abundance, richness, and composition with elevation should be examined more carefully to understand implications for ecosystem service provision, and ultimately for coffee farmers.


 * Herrera-Rangel, J., E. Jimenez-Carmona, and I. Armbrecht. 2015. Monitoring the Diversity of Hunting Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on a Fragmented and Restored Andean Landscape. Environmental Entomology. 44:1287-1298. doi:10.1093/ee/nvv103

ABSTRACT Hunting ants are predators of organisms belonging to different trophic levels. Their presence, abundance, and diversity may reflect the diversity of other ants and contribute to evaluate habitat conditions. Between 2003 and 2005 the restoration of seven corridors in an Andean rural landscape of Colombia was performed. The restoration took place in lands that were formerly either forestry plantations or pasturelands. To evaluate restoration progress, hunting ants were intensely sampled for 7 yr, using sifted leaf litter and mini-Winkler, and pitfall traps in 21 plots classified into five vegetation types: forests, riparian forests, two types of restored corridors, and pasturelands. The ant communities were faithful to their habitat over time, and the main differences in ant composition, abundance, and richness were due to differences among land use types. The forests and riparian forests support 45% of the species in the landscape while the restored corridors contain between 8.3–25%. The change from forest to pasturelands represents a loss of 80% of the species. Ant composition in restored corridors was significantly different than in forests but restored corridors of soil of forestry plantations retained 16.7% more species than restored corridors from pasturelands. Ubiquitous hunting ants, Hypoponera opacior and Gnamptogenys ca andina were usually associated with pastures and dominate restored corridors. Other cryptic, small, and specialized hunting ants are not present in the restored corridors. Results suggest that the history of land use is important for the biodiversity of hunting ants but also that corridors have not yet effectively contributed toward conservation goals.


 * Krushelnycky, P. D. 2015. Ecology of some lesser-studied introduced ant species in Hawaiian forests. Journal of Insect Conservation. 19:659-667. doi:10.1007/s10841-015-9789-y

Abstract: Invasive ants can have strong ecological effects on native arthropods, but most information on this topic comes from studies of a handful of ant species. The ecological impacts of the many additional introduced ‘tramp’ ant species are largely unknown. In mesic upland forests of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, ten species of introduced ants were found on four species of understory trees. However, these ants were generally uncommon and occurred at relatively low densities in this habitat type. The most common and abundant ant was Plagiolepis alluaudi, which favored the native tree Pipturus albidus. Ecological effects of ants on arthropods were found to be modest, with overall arthropod community composition not significantly different between ant-occupied and ant-free trees. Most taxonomic groups were similar in abundance and richness between ant-occupied and ant-free trees, except adventive Coleoptera, adventive Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera were less abundant on ant-occupied trees, and adventive Coleoptera and adventive Hemiptera also had lower richness on ant-occupied trees. Among Lepidoptera, caterpillars of two endemic groups had significantly lower incidences on trees with higher ant abundances, while other caterpillars did not. Arthropod trophic structure was largely unaffected, except that chewing herbivores comprised a smaller fraction of biomass on ant-occupied trees. While overall ecological effects were weak in comparison to prior results involving other ant species in Hawai‘i, some of the impacts suggest that higher densities of these introduced ant species could result in similar interactions with arthropods as those of the better-studied invasive ant species.


 * Lange, D., A. A. Vilela, G. Erdogmus, A. B. Barbosa, S. C. Costa, and V. Stefani. 2015. Temporal dynamic of foraging of epigeic ants in an urban forest fragment. Bioscience Journal. 31:1501-1511.

ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to investigate the foraging dynamic of an ant community in an urban semideciduous mesophitic forest. A total of 4,297 individuals, distributed in 23 species, seven genera and four subfamilies were sampled in January, April, July and October of 2010. Four ant species guilds were found: leaf cutters, soil-dominant omnivores, soil and vegetation opportunists and large-sized epigaeic predators. There were no significant differences in total of species richness and abundance of individuals in samples among the months evaluated. However, there was a clear substitution (turnover) of species over the months. Nine species were sampled exclusively in the rainy period and five species were present only during the dry period. Thus, the species turnover over the months support the hypothesis that ant communities present a temporal dynamics in their foraging activities even in an urban forest fragment. In general, the abundance of ants foraging on soil was greatest during the months with greater rainfall. However, two species belonging to the guild of opportunistic ants from soil and vegetation doubled the number of foraging individuals in period during the months with less precipitation. These findings support that ant communities, independent of isolation and environment (urban or natural), have temporal dynamics that arise from factors relating to the biology and behavior of the group.

M - Z (by first author)

 * Menke, S. B., E. Gaulke, A. Hamel, and N. Vachter. 2015. The Effects of Restoration Age and Prescribed Burns on Grassland Ant Community Structure. Environmental Entomology. 44:1336-1347. doi:10.1093/ee/nvv110

Abstract: North American grassland environments are endangered as a result of degradation and conversion for agriculture and housing. Efforts to manage and restore grasslands have traditionally focused on monitoring plant communities to determine restoration success, but the incorporation of animal communities may provide important benchmarks of ecosystem function and restoration. Ants play many roles in maintaining ecosystem health in temperate grasslands, but relatively little is known about how ant communities respond to restoration. We studied the role that restoration age and prescribed burns have on ant communities in two types of Illinois grasslands, prairies and savannas, and identify indicator species of restoration success. Grassland environments included remnants and restorations that varied in age from newly restored sites, to sites that have been under restoration for >15 yr. We demonstrate that prairie and savanna ant communities are distinct, but respond to restoration in a similar manner. Three distinct prairie ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site—sites <3 yr old, sites that have been under restoration >5 yr, and remnant prairies. Four distinct savanna ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site—sites <3 yr old, sites 5–15 yr old, sites >15 yr old, and remnant savanna environments. After accounting for restoration age, time since last burn in both prairie and savannas does not explain community composition or species richness. Several ant species in both prairies and savannas have predictable changes in incidence that indicate their suitability for use as indicator species.


 * Meurer, E., L. D. Battirola, J. H. C. Delabie, and M. I. Marques. 2015. Influence of the Vegetation Mosaic on Ant (Formicidae: Hymenoptera) Distributions in the Northern Brazilian Pantanal. Sociobiology. 62:382-388. doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v62i3.359

Abstract: We examined how vegetation mosaic influences distribution of the edaphic ant (Formicidae) community in the northern part of the Pantanal in Cáceres, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Plant formations (hereafter habitats) that characterize this area include several savanna types, such as: Cerrado sensu stricto, Cerradão, Semi-deciduous forest, Termite savanna, Open fields and Cerrado field/carandazal. Pitfall traps were placed in ten 250 m transects each one separated by 1 km, within an area of 2 x 5 km (following RAPELD methodology). Five traps at intervals of 50 m were placed along each transect, in September and December 2008. Forty-four ant species were collected. leaf litter predicted ant presence and influenced species occurrence in the different habitats. Pantanal habitats are very different structurally from one to another, which has have resulted in areas with very specific ant assemblages. The understanding of the ant community structure in these areas is fundamental to floodplain management.


 * Ossola, A., M. A. Nash, F. J. Christie, A. K. Hahs, and S. J. Livesley. 2015. Urban habitat complexity affects species richness but not environmental filtering of morphologically-diverse ants. PeerJ. 3. doi:10.7717/peerj.1356

Abstract: Habitat complexity is a major determinant of structure and diversity of ant assemblages. Following the size-grain hypothesis, smaller ant species are likely to be advantaged in more complex habitats compared to larger species.Habitat complexity can act as an environmental filter based on species size and morphological traits, therefore affecting the overall structure and diversity of ant assemblages. In natural and semi-natural ecosystems, habitat complexity is principally regulated by ecological successions or disturbance such as fire and grazing. Urban ecosystems provide an opportunity to test relationships between habitat, ant assemblage structure and ant traits using novel combinations of habitat complexity generated and sustained by human management. We sampled ant assemblages in low-complexity and high-complexity parks, and high-complexity woodland remnants, hypothesizing that (i) ant abundance and species richness would be higher in high-complexity urban habitats, (ii) ant assemblages would differ between low- and high-complexity habitats and (iii) ants living in high-complexity habitats would be smaller than those living in low-complexity habitats. Contrary to our hypothesis, ant species richness was higher in low-complexity habitats compared to high-complexity habitats. Overall, ant assemblages were significantly different among the habitat complexity types investigated, although ant size and morphology remained the same. Habitat complexity appears to affect the structure of ant assemblages in urban ecosystems as previously observed in natural and semi-natural ecosystems. However, the habitat complexity filter does not seem to be linked to ant morphological traits related to body size.


 * Pech, P., J. Dolansky, R. Hrdlicka, and J. Leps. 2015. Differential response of communities of plants, snails, ants and spiders to long-term mowing in a small-scale experiment. Community Ecology. 16:115-124. doi:10.1556/168.2015.16.1.13

Abstract: We examined the response of communities of four groups of organisms (plants, snails, ants and spiders) in a small scale mosaic of 8-years mown and unmown plots in a wet meadow in Central Europe. The experimental setup consisted of 7 unmown and 8 regularly mown 4 m2 plots in checkerboard arrangement. Eight years after the start of the experiment, the plant community structure diverged in response to mowing/nonmowing, both in species composition and structure. Both bryophyte and vascular plant species numbers were significantly higher in the mown plots. In unmown plots, bryophytes nearly disappeared and plots were dominated by the tall tussock grass Molinia caerulea. Both diversity and abundance of snails were higher in unmown plots than in mown ones. Ant nests were more abundant in mown plots and species composition differed between mown and unmown plots. We captured significantly more individuals of spiders in mown plots but we did not find any difference in species composition. We conclude that the 8-years duration of different management of 4 m2 plots was sufficient to establish different communities in low movable organisms, whereas these plots are probably too small to host different assemblages of organisms with good active dispersal abilities.


 * Rocha-Ortega, M. and G. Castano-Meneses. 2015. Effects of urbanization on the diversity of ant assemblages in tropical dry forests, Mexico. Urban Ecosystems. 18:1373-1388. doi:10.1007/s11252-015-0446-8

Abstract: Urbanization has a direct effect on the landscape and its biodiversity, however urban centers has been ignored in most ecological studies. We study the diversity of ant communities in four remnants of tropical dry forest with different degrees of disturbance which are on the edge of the urban area in Querétaro city, Mexico. Samples were collected two times per month, from December 2004 to December 2005, in four strata: leaf litter, ground, scrub and arboreal. . A total of 25 species and 23 morphospecies were captured, belonging to 28 genera of 6 subfamilies: Dolichoderinae (3 species), Ecitoninae (5), Formicinae (12), Myrmicinae (24), Ponerinae (2) and Pseudomyrmicinae (2). Across the urban-disturbance gradient here studied the local diversity pattern could be explaining by the disturbance heterogeneity model. The most negative effect of urbanization was found for arboreal ants, while leaf litter communities were less susceptible to anthropogenic changes. In general, we found low rates of turnover, even in sites with high values of alpha diversity, evidencing the impoverishment of the ant community surrounding Querétaro city and the susceptibility of the community to extinction. The remnants were functionally very dissimilar and the effects of urbanization depend largely of the diet and life history of individual ant species. Moreover, it was found that the soil proprieties and vegetation structure influenced patterns of ant diversity along the urban-disturbance gradient. Despite the anthropogenic disturbance of the tropical dry forests surrounding the city of Querétaro, these forest remnants serve as a refuge for rare species and prove ecosystem functions. Ant biodiversity is also indicative of the state of ecosystem functions inside these remnants and likely of the biodiversity of other groups. Therefore, the conservation of these sites must be promoted to protect ant biodiversity and other taxonomic groups.


 * Staubus, W. J., E. S. Boyd, T. A. Adams, D. M. Spear, M. M. Dipman, and W. M. Meyer. 2015. Ant communities in native sage scrub, non-native grassland, and suburban habitats in Los Angeles County, USA: conservation implications. Journal of Insect Conservation. 19:669-680. doi:10.1007/s10841-015-9790-5

Abstract: Southern California’s sage scrub (SS) ecosystem is severely threatened by suburban development and invasion by non-native grasses, but how these threats impact the arthropod community is poorly understood. Native ants, which face the additional threat of being displaced by non-native Argentine ants, may be particularly at risk of local and regional extirpation. In this study, we surveyed the ant communities in the SS and non-native grassland habitats at the Robert J Bernard Biological Field Station (BFS) and surrounding suburban habitat, and compared patterns of species richness and composition among habitat types. We also compared ant richness and composition at the BFS to 40 coastal SS fragments previously surveyed in San Diego County to better understand how ant communities in interior and coastal SS fragments differ. Ant composition significantly differed among all three habitat types at and surrounding the BFS, but species richness did not. Comparisons between the BFS and coastal fragments indicate that interior SS fragments harbor unique ant species and more species relative to fragment area. Increased richness and unique ant assemblages are probably associated with the limited ability of invasive Argentine ants to colonize the non-native grassland and SS at the BFS. Because many southern California invertebrates are narrowly endemic to low elevation areas, patterns of habitat specificity seen with ants highlight that maintaining a mosaic of SS and non-native grassland habitat, particularly in interior areas where activity and diversity of non-native invertebrate species may be restricted, may be critical to preserving biodiversity.