Physical and land-cover variables influence ant functional groups and species diversity along elevational gradients

Bernadou, Abel; Céréghino, Régis; Barcet, Hugues; Combe, Maud; Espadaler, Xavier; Fourcassié, Vincent

doi:10.1007/s10980-013-9892-y

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Hence, our results support the assumption that low structural complexity can increase the diversity of woodland ants (Bernadou et al. ). Harvesting substantial amounts of tree volume leads to an open forest structure and thins out the canopy cover, which in turn facilitates a warmer forest climate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Effect of forest management on temperate ant communities

et al. 2018

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Human management of ecosystems can have direct or indirect effects on species communities. How species communities are affected by management is a key question in ecology and nature conservation. As keystone taxon, changes in ant communities can have sustained consequences for entire ecosystems. In forests, management has been shown to have an overall negative effect on ant communities in tropical and a positive effect in boreal forests. However, in temperate forests, it is unclear what components of forest management affect ant communities and how. This study explores the direct and indirect effects of forest management on the taxonomic and functional diversity of ant communities in 150 temperate forest stands in three regions in Germany. Using a multi‐model inference approach and structural equation models, we analyzed the effects of 18 variables, including variables of forest management, forest structure, arthropod diversity, and biomass, as well as abiotic factors, on ant species richness, abundance, and functional trait diversity (Rao's Q) based on morphological (FDM) and life‐history traits (FDLH). In total, we found 28 ant species occurring on 120 plots. Main direct effects of forest management on ant abundance and species richness were caused by tree species selection, measured as dominant tree species. The main positive indirect effect was mediated by a reduced canopy cover with an increasing proportion of oak and pine, resulting in a higher temperature amplitude. Due to the low number of species in two regions, we analyzed functional diversity for the most ant species diverse region only. FDLH was affected positively by tree harvesting and negatively by structural complexity. FDM showed no response to forest management, potentially due to the low morphological diversity of temperate forest ants. Our results show that forest management practices in temperate forests strongly impact ant community structure. This can be beneficial for ants if management reduces the canopy cover, either by tree harvesting or by changing the tree species composition toward shade‐intolerant tree species. To promote ant diversity as key taxon for maintaining ecosystem processes in forest ecosystems, we suggest to integrate forest stands with more open and warmer conditions in future management strategies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Effect of forest management on temperate ant communities

et al. 2018

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“…Temperature has been described as a prominent driver (Bernadou et al 2013, Malsch et al 2008 or the most important predictor (Longino & Colwell 2011, Bishop et al 2014, Machac et al 2011) of species richness. Relative humidity, soil nutrients, elevation-specific regional area, and the mid-domain effects were reported to have comparatively less impact on ant species richness (Longino & Colwell 2011).…”

Section: Drivers Of Ant Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decline in species richness is correlated with decreasing temperature, high humidity, scarcity of nesting places and nutritional resources (Malsch et al 2008). Local habitat features like sun exposure, vegetation density, surface moisture (Bernadou et al 2013, Munyai & Foord 2012, Araujo & Fernandes 2003, vegetation types (Lasmar et al 2020), types and number of nutrients (Peters et al 2014) and available areas (Bishop et al 2014) also influence species diversity. Elevation influences the changes in ant communities often due to increased moisture availability (MontBlanc et al 2007).…”

Section: Drivers Of Ant Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and distribution patterns of ants along elevational gradients

Subedi

Budha

2020

Nep. J. Zool.

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Ants are one of the most successful groups of organisms present in almost all terrestrial habitats on the Earth. The published papers on ants with various sampling techniques were reviewed focusing on species richness along the elevational gradients to explain distribution patterns of ants and their potential drivers in the world. Pitfall trapping, hand collection, Winkler extractor and bait traps were found common sampling techniques for ant studies. Based upon literature, five broad distributional patterns were identified viz. mid-elevation peaks, decreasing, increasing, low plateaus, and constant patterns along the elevation ranging from 0 to 4800 m above sea level. The mid-elevation peak was a common pattern. However, ant species richness of Nepal follows a decreasing pattern based on the available records. Temperature was found as the major predictor of species richness patterns of ants.

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“…This was unlike those of type (4) in the locality of Notto, which grew fruits for the export market and displayed higher intensification levels (Ndiaye et al, 2012). The weak or non-existent technical interventions in type (1) and type (2) orchards were conductive to high leaf litter levels, no pesticide use and no fertilizer inputs that influenced ant diversity, ant richness or ant community structure, as reported by other studies demonstrating the sensitivity of ants to environmental conditions (Peck et al, 1998;New, 2000;Hernández-Ruiz and Castaño-Meneses, 2006;Torchote et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2011;Wiescher et al, 2012;Bernadou et al, 2013). For the group (A) orchards, one ecological factor able to influence the ant community was the vegetation stratum which determines the amount of leaf litter (Perfecto and Snelling, 1995;Ellison et al, 2002;Boulton et al, 2005), depending on whether or not there was orchard cleaning.…”

Section: Ant Community Structure Depending On the Locality And The Ormentioning

confidence: 68%