Effects of prescribed fire on an ant community in Florida pine savanna

Abstract

Abstract. 1. The effects of prescribed fire on ant community structure were examined in a regenerating longleaf pine savanna in Florida, U.S.A. The presence of ants on 20, 10 × 10 m plots was determined by baiting every 1–3 months from 18 months before a fire until 6 months afterwards. 2. Expected species richness (based on rarefaction) and species density 6 months post‐fire were significantly lower than for the same month (September) 6 months before the fire. 3. Cluster analysis revealed that the effects of fire were far less important predictors of ant community structure than seasonality and unexplained inter‐annual variation. Thus, overall, the impacts of fire were relatively minor and short term at the community level. 4. Different functional groups of ants (as defined by Andersen, 1997) responded to fire in strikingly different ways. Generalised Myrmicinae (e.g. Pheidole spp., Monomorium viride) were affected more severely by fire than were the other functional groups. In contrast, the dominant Dolichoderinae (Forelius pruinosus) exhibited a large increase after the fire and seemed to be responsible for the decline in abundance of several species. 5. A strong negative correlation between F. pruinosus and other groups of ants immediately after the fire suggested more intense competition among ants at that time. Six months post‐fire, the abundance of F. pruinosus decreased markedly and the abundance of other species rebounded. 6. The rapid post‐fire recovery of the ant community probably reflects adaptations of ants to a chronic fire regime.

Seasonal Dynamics of Ant Community Structure in the Moroccan Argan Forest

“…This result illustrates the importance of seasonality on the structure of Argan forest communities. The finding is comparable with those reported by Izhaki et al (2003) in the longleaf pine forest in Florida, showing that the effects of natural seasonal cycles on ant community composition were more dominant than those of fire disturbance. Factors such as temperature and water availability in the environment are central factors regulating ant activity, because these affect overall plant biomass.…”

Ant Diversity Sampling on the Southern Cumberland Plateau: A Comparison of Litter Sifting and Pitfall Trapping

“…This result illustrates the importance of seasonality on the structure of Argan forest communities. The finding is comparable with those reported by Izhaki et al (2003) in the longleaf pine forest in Florida, showing that the effects of natural seasonal cycles on ant community composition were more dominant than those of fire disturbance. Factors such as temperature and water availability in the environment are central factors regulating ant activity, because these affect overall plant biomass.…”

Biochar–macrofauna interplay: Searching for new bioindicators

“…In fact, it is known that the interplay between ants and biological soil properties may be connected with increased or decreased microbial activity, which is affected by accumulation of organic matter, internal nest temperature and especially moisture (Frouz and Jilkova, 2008). Ants are known to respond to several factors of environmental stress and disturbance and, for this reason, they have served as bioindicators to assess the effects of several environmental perturbations such as forest clearing (King et al, 1998), fire (Andersen, 1991;Izhaki et al, 2003), road construction (Lassau and Hochuli, 2003), mining (Majer, 1984), and agriculture (Perfecto and Snelling, 1995). Our findings confirm the role of temperature and humidity in driving ant activity (Cerdà et al, 2013;Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990) and convincingly encourage exploiting their sensitivity for assessing the changes in edaphic qualities such as those caused by biochar amendment.…”