The effects of high-severity fires on the arboreal ant community of a Neotropical savanna

Rosa, Thaynah F.; Camarota, Flávio; Zuanon, Lino Abdelnour; Tito, Richard; Maravalhas, Jonas B.; Powell, Scott; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.

doi:10.1007/s00442-021-04922-x

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is consistent with results from several studies indicating that epigaeic ants with nests underground (as most species removing diaspores in this study, Alcolea, 2020) do not show important decreases in colony abundances with fire (see Vasconcelos et al, 2016). However, it is also important to highlight that soil-nesting ants are often less affected by fire than arboreal ants (Frizzo et al, 2012;Rosa et al, 2021;Vasconcelos et al, 2016). Thus, other ant-plant interactions relevant for plant fitness (such as ant protection against herbivores in extra floral nectary plants) may be affected by fire in different ways (see Vasconcelos et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Prescribed fire enhances seed removal by ants in a Neotropical savanna

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seed dispersal and predation by animals often drive plant regeneration. In tropical savannas, such as the Cerrado of Brazil, fire is also a key process in ecosystem dynamics, consuming the lower vegetation strata and killing wildlife, but how fire affects seedanimal interactions is virtually unknown. We investigated the effects of prescribed fires on the removal of diaspores from Miconia rubiginosa and sunflower Helianthus annuus in Cerrado from southeast Brazil. Using plots burned one month or one year before sampling and unburned controls, we assessed the effect of prescribed fire on microhabitat structure and diaspore removal by vertebrates and ants. Covered microhabitats experienced higher seed removal by vertebrates than open microhabitats, but microhabitat features did not influence seed removal by ants. Prescribed fire did not change the total amount of seed removal, and ants were responsible for most removals in burned and control plots. However, fire increased the importance of ants as agents of removal compared to vertebrates. These changes were probably mediated by changes in microhabitat cover. It is likely that species, whose seeds are often preyed upon by vertebrates, benefit from fire to escape predation, while the opposite would be true for those removed by granivorous ants. By changing microhabitats composition and frequency of seed removal by different agents, fire may create pulses of opportunities for certain plant species to increase their populations and enlarge their spatial distribution, while constraining others. However, how different fire intensities and frequencies influence seed fate of different species is still to be investigated.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Prescribed fire enhances seed removal by ants in a Neotropical savanna

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In six samples over 14 years, no decline in richness was noted, but fires altered community composition noticeably. Another study showed that arboreal ant richness declined by 22% after two fires, and no recovery was apparent within 2 years [25]. Ant diversity did not decline in selectively logged compared to non-logged areas in the Central Amazon, but abundances and dominance shifted [26].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many more comparative studies targeting effects of certain agents or drivers, such as fire or land-use conversion. They include, for instance, comparisons along disturbance and urbanization gradients [35][36][37], unpolluted versus polluted freshwater communities [38] or pre-versus post-fire ant assemblages [25]. Although these studies have no temporal sampling series, their results could be combined with large-scale rate estimates of a given driver, such as agricultural intensification or deforestation, to generate indirect estimates of biome-wide loss of species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect decline in Brazil: an appraisal of current evidence

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent reviews of data on worldwide insect decline include almost no information on Brazil. We gathered evidence from literature searches and a survey sent to researchers, to which 96 replied and 56 provided information and publications. We present 75 instances of trends recorded over an average span of 11 years for aquatic and 22 years for terrestrial insects. These include time-replicated samples and expert opinion based on long-term local collections. Most terrestrial data are for butterflies, bees and scarab beetles. Aquatic studies include several insect orders, usually sorted to genus or family. Terrestrial insects showed significantly more cases of declines than increases, both in abundance (17 : 3) and in diversity (11 : 1). In aquatic cases, no tendency was detected in abundance (2 : 2) or diversity (3 : 4), not counting cases with no trend. Differences in these results among habitats may be due to the shorter span and less change in environmental conditions in the aquatic surveys, which included sites already degraded before sampling. We offer guidelines for future long-term assessments, including resampling of legacy collection sites.

show abstract

“…According to Knoechelmann and Morais (2008), under frequent fire, the presence of ants became greater in plants of S. adstringens in comparison with plants that grew in areas without fire; in particular, the abundance of Camponotus became higher after defoliation caused by fire. According to Rosa et al (2021), intense fire strongly changes the composition of ant species that nest exclusively in trees because they can die, thus reducing the efficiency of protection (Vasconcelos et al, 2020). However, for Camponotus ants, which were observed in S. adstringens , a high mortality is not frequent after moderate fires as demonstrated by Knoechelmann & Morais (2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of leaf cutting and fire on extrafloral nectaries and nectar production in Stryphnodendron adstringens (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) plants

Delgado

Morais

Rossatto

2022

Plant Species Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Herbivory pressure is an important ecological aspect to determine quantitative variation in plant defenses, such as the number of extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) and their nectar amount and quality. Extrafloral nectaries can attract ants, which can be considered a type of induced plant defense. Besides, plants tend to invest more in defense when they are more vulnerable to herbivores. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate if Stryphnodendron adstringens (Fabaceae), a common Cerrado tree species, when subjected to damage (by manual leaf cutting and experimental fire) would produce a greater number of EFNs and changes its nectar quality on newly produced leaves in comparison with plants not subjected to these treatments. Leaf damage was performed artificially directly on the plant branches and at the entire plant canopy (by means of scissors or fire events). Extrafloral nectary density was higher in new leaves produced after the treatment application (artificial herbivory and fire) in comparison with plants under control treatment. The amount of nectar was also higher under treatments in comparison with control, with a significant change on nectar quality in plants subjected to the treatments of artificial herbivory.The results provided support for the hypothesis that EFNs are an inducible defensive strategy in S. adstringens, confirming the existence of phenotypic plasticity given environmental pressures.

show abstract

The effects of high-severity fires on the arboreal ant community of a Neotropical savanna

Cited by 13 publications

References 58 publications

Prescribed fire enhances seed removal by ants in a Neotropical savanna

Prescribed fire enhances seed removal by ants in a Neotropical savanna

Insect decline in Brazil: an appraisal of current evidence

The role of leaf cutting and fire on extrafloral nectaries and nectar production in Stryphnodendron adstringens (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) plants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About