Comparison of Ant Community Diversity and Functional Group Composition Associated to Land Use Change in a Seasonally Dry Oak Forest

Abstract

Ants have been used to assess land use conversion, because they reflect environmental change, and their response to these changes have been useful in the identification of bioindicators. We evaluated ant diversity and composition associated to different land use change in a temperate forest (above 2000 m asl) in Mexico. The study was carried out in "Flor del Bosque" Park a vegetation mosaic of native Oak Forests and introduced Eucalyptus and grasslands. Species richness, dominance and diversity rarefaction curves, based on ant morphospecies and functional groups, were constructed and compared among the three vegetation types, for the rainy and the dry seasons of 2008-2009. Jaccard and Sorensen incidence-based indices were calculated to obtain similarity values among all the habitats. The Oak Forest was a rich dominant community, both in species and functional groups; the Eucalyptus plantation was diverse with low dominance. The most seasonality habitat was the grassland, with low species and high functional group diversity during the dry seasons, but the reverse pattern during the wet season. The Oak Forest was more similar to the Eucalyptus plantation than to the grassland, particularly during the dry season. Oak Forests are dominated by Cold Climate Specialists, specifically Prenolepis imparis (Say). The Eucalyptus and the grassland are characterized by generalized Myrmicinae, as Pheidole spp. and Monomorium ebenium (Forel). The conservation of the native Oak Forest is primordial for the maintenance of Cold Climate Specialist ant communities. The microclimatic conditions in this forest, probably, prevented the invasion by opportunistic species.

Homogenization and impoverishment of taxonomic and functional diversity of ants in Eucalyptus plantations

“…Such species, e.g . species from Dominant Dolichoderinae and Generalist Myrmicinae functional groups 46 , are better adapted to the disturbed conditions and have rapid recruitment to find and defend food resources, driving competing species to local extinction 36 , 47 , 48 . More than reducing species richness and the amount of functional trait space occupied by ant communities, managed Eucalyptus plantations also decreased the functional similarities between species (functional redundancy), likely reducing community resistance.…”

Transcriptomic signatures of cold adaptation and heat stress in the winter ant (Prenolepis imparis)

“…In this study, we use RNA-seq to identify the stress response at the level of gene expression in the winter ant (Prenolepis imparis, Say [32]). Prenolepis imparis is associated with cooler microhabitats in mesic forests from sea level to high-elevation (2,286 meters) throughout the United States and Mexico, and the southern part of Ontario, Canada [33][34][35][36]. Prenolepis imparis decreases its activity under warm conditions and is most active in the cooler months (late fall through early spring), when nearly all other ant species exhibit reduced foraging [37,38].…”

Gremios y diversidad de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en tres usos del suelo de un paisaje cafetero del Cauca-Colombia.

“…Este patrón concuerda con las bajas riquezas registradas en áreas abiertas, cuando se comparan con usos del suelo más arborizados (Cuautle, Vergara, & Badano, 2016).…”