Does Cattle Grazing Affect Ant Abundance and Diversity in Temperate Grasslands?

Schmidt, Amanda; Fraser, Lauchlan H.; Carlyle, Cameron N.; Bassett, Eleanor R. L.

doi:10.2111/rem-d-11-00100.1

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The lower carabid diversity we found with grazing is inconsistent with Dennis et al (2002) who found a higher diversity of arthropods in moderately grazed areas, and Crisp et al (1998) who found high beetle diversity in modified (disturbed) habitats. Schmidt et al (2012) found higher ant abundance and diversity in grazed sites but only at high productivity sites; ant abundance and diversity were reduced by grazing in low productivity sites. Cagnolo et al (2002) determined that carabid diversity was reduced by heavy grazing in Argentinean montane grasslands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Effects of Cattle on the Abundance and Composition of Carabid Beetles in Temperate Grasslands

Bassett

Fraser

2014

JAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grasslands are of vital importance to the ranching industry. Cattle grazing can alter the structure and composition of the plant community, and may indirectly affect insect communities. We investigated the effects of cattle grazing and site productivity on carabid beetle abundance, dried weight (biomass), species richness and diversity. We used pitfall traps to capture beetles in three sessions in 2008 in Lac Du Bois Provincial Park, British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. To test for main and interacting effects of elevation and grazing, carabid beetles were quantified by trap for abundance, dried weight (biomass), species richness and Shannon's diversity. We found that elevation (a proxy of site productivity) was the most important predictor of carabid parameters, with lower elevation (low site productivity) having lower abundance, biomass, species richness and diversity compared to upper elevation (high site productivity). Although there was no main effect caused by grazing, there was a reduction in carabid biomass and diversity at grazed upper elevation sites compared to ungrazed upper elevation sites, suggesting that site productivity and plant structure affects carabid communities. Cattle management of natural grasslands benefits by considering biodiversity of all biota, including invertebrates. Carabid species diversity can be maximized by restricting grazing at high site productivity where plant biomass and litter is high.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Effects of Cattle on the Abundance and Composition of Carabid Beetles in Temperate Grasslands

Bassett

Fraser

2014

JAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Local differences in precipitation, temperature, soil depth and texture, soil parental material, topography, and aspect contribute to the structure and composition of local plant and animal communities [ 27 – 29 ]. Dominant grasses include bluebunch wheatgrass ( Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) A.Love) and rough fescue ( Festuca scabrella Rydb.).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperate grassland songbird species accumulate incrementally along a gradient of primary productivity

Harrower

Srivastava

McCallum³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global analyses of bird communities along elevation gradients suggest that bird diversity on arid mountains is primarily limited by water availability, not temperature or altitude. However, the mechanism by which water availability, and subsequently primary productivity, increases bird diversity is still unclear. Here we evaluate two possible mechanisms from species-energy theory. The more individuals hypothesis proposes that a higher availability of resources increases the total number of individuals that can be supported, and therefore the greater number of species that will be sampled. By contrast, the more specialization hypothesis proposes that increasing resource availability will permit specialists to exploit otherwise rare resources, thus increasing total diversity. We used 5 years of surveys of grassland songbird communities along an elevational gradient in British Columbia, Canada, to distinguish between these hypotheses. Vegetation changed markedly in composition along the gradient and contrary to the expectations of the more specialization hypothesis, bird community composition was remarkably constant. However, both total abundance and species richness of birds increased with increasing water availability to plants. When we used rarefaction to correct species richness for differences in total abundance, much of the increase in bird diversity was lost, consistent with the expectations of the more individuals hypothesis. Furthermore, high species richness was associated with reductions in territory size of common bird species, rather than the fine-scale spatial partitioning of the landscape. This suggests that bird diversity increases when greater resource availability allows higher densities rather than greater habitat specialization. These results help explain a pervasive global pattern in bird diversity on arid mountains, and suggest that in such landscapes conservation of grassland birds is strongly linked to climate and hydrology.

show abstract

“…Many factors affect composition and distribution of ant species, including natural succession (Costa et al 2010), climatic change (Kwon et al 2014) and other anthropogenic impacts on forest ecosystems (e.g. logging and livestock grazing; Schmidt et al 2012;Frank et al 2015). As most ant species used by Apennine brown bears are found in open and sun-exposed sites, forest clearings, early stages of forest succession, grasslands and ecotones should be actively managed accordingly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants as food for Apennine brown bears

Tosoni

Mei

Ciucci

2018

The European Zoological Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The value of ants to bears is a topic of substantial relevance for the small and highly endangered population of Apennine brown bears (Ursus arctos marsicanus) in central Italy. Following a previous food-habit study (2006-2009) based on scat analysis, we used the same data set to further investigate patterns of ant consumption by Apennine bears at a greater taxonomic and temporal resolution. We observed a great diversity of ant species in bear scats, comprising 15 genera and > 42 species. Bears most frequently consumed ants living in open grassland and forest edges, belonging to five genera: Formica, Lasius, Tetramorium, Camponotus and Myrmica. Specifically, yellow Lasius spp., Serviformica spp., Lasius s. str. spp., and Tetramorium spp. were most represented in the bear diet, followed by Formica pratensis, Camponotus spp., Myrmica spp. and Formica sanguinea. Yellow Lasius spp. yielded the highest number of individuals per bear scat, outnumbering any other ant taxon. During the years of our study, ant consumption by bears peaked between June and July and corresponded to a higher occurrence of brood in the scats. Our results are useful to inform habitat management, especially in light of expected natural and anthropogenic changes. However, further investigation is necessary to unveil behavioural and ecological correlates of myrmecophagy in Apennine brown bears.

show abstract

Does Cattle Grazing Affect Ant Abundance and Diversity in Temperate Grasslands?

Cited by 26 publications

References 28 publications

Effects of Cattle on the Abundance and Composition of Carabid Beetles in Temperate Grasslands

Effects of Cattle on the Abundance and Composition of Carabid Beetles in Temperate Grasslands

Temperate grassland songbird species accumulate incrementally along a gradient of primary productivity

Ants as food for Apennine brown bears

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About