Alpha and beta phylogenetic diversities jointly reveal ant community assembly mechanisms along a tropical elevational gradient

Abstract

Despite the long-standing interest in the organization of ant communities across elevational gradients, few studies have incorporated the evolutionary information to understand the historical processes that underlay such patterns. Through the evaluation of phylogenetic α and β-diversity, we analyzed the structure of leaf-litter ant communities along the Cofre de Perote mountain in Mexico and evaluated whether deterministic- (i.e., habitat filtering, interspecific competition) or stochastic-driven processes (i.e., dispersal limitation) were driving the observed patterns. Lowland and some highland sites showed phylogenetic clustering, whereas intermediate elevations and the highest site presented phylogenetic overdispersion. We infer that strong environmental constraints found at the bottom and the top elevations are favoring closely-related species to prevail at those elevations. Conversely, less stressful climatic conditions at intermediate elevations suggest interspecific interactions are more important in these environments. Total phylogenetic dissimilarity was driven by the turnover component, indicating that the turnover of ant species along the mountain is actually shifts of lineages adapted to particular locations resembling their ancestral niche. The greater phylogenetic dissimilarity between communities was related to greater temperature differences probably due to narrow thermal tolerances inherent to several ant lineages that evolved in more stable conditions. Our results suggest that the interplay between environmental filtering, interspecific competition and habitat specialization plays an important role in the assembly of leaf-litter ant communities along elevational gradients.

Ant diversity and species assemblages along an elevational gradient in the arid area of Central Iran

“…Contrary to what we observed in high-elevation sites, in low elevations, the species of genus Monomorium are as abundant as Cataglyphis species. This finding is in line with the study of Pérez-Toledo et al (2022) in Mexico, who reported that Monomorium is highly restricted to the warm conditions found in the lowlands. This could probably resemble the neotropical origin of this genus (Ward et al, 2015).…”

Environmental determinants of phylogenetic diversity in vernal pool habitats

“…Second, the outcome of competition on phylogenetic structure is a consequence of invasion gradients, as competition from invasive plants produces phylogenetic clustering whereas competition between native plants produces phylogenetic overdispersion. The hypothesis that competitive groups will exclude noncompetitive groups leading to phylogenetic clustering has been weak (Gerhold et al., 2015 ; Lososová et al., 2016 ), whereas other studies find phylogenetic overdispersion due to competition (Pérez‐Toledo et al., 2022 ). The novelty of our findings is that phylogenetic structure is dependent upon the degree of invasion.…”

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

“…Ants (Order Hymenoptera, Family Formicidae) are one of the most important groups of insects, especially in the tropics (Folgarait, 1998; Wilson & Holldobler, 2005), and are a key component of the terrestrial food web, and their responses to abiotic, biotic, and functional changes suggests that they are a useful indicator group of environmental changes (Tiede et al., 2017). In general, various abiotic factors are thought to influence ant diversity, including the high environmental variation at different elevations (Pérez‐Toledo et al., 2022). With regard to hurricanes, however, the data examining the response of ant communities are lacking.…”