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Hernández M, Hereira-Pacheco S, Alberdi A, Díaz DE LA Vega-Pérez AH, Estrada-Torres A, Ancona S, Navarro-Noya YE. DNA metabarcoding reveals seasonal changes in diet composition across four arthropod-eating lizard species (Phrynosomatidae: Sceloporus). Integr Zool 2024; 19:480-495. [PMID: 37550887 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Diet composition and its ecological drivers are rarely investigated in coexisting closely related species. We used a molecular approach to characterize the seasonal variation in diet composition in four spiny lizard species inhabiting a mountainous ecosystem. DNA metabarcoding revealed that the lizards Sceloporus aeneus, S. bicanthalis, S. grammicus, and S. spinosus mostly consumed arthropods of the orders Hemiptera, Araneae, Hymenoptera, and Coleoptera. The terrestrial lizards S. aeneus and S. bicanthalis mostly predated ants and spiders, whereas the arboreal-saxicolous S. grammicus and saxicolous S. spinosus largely consumed grasshoppers and leafhoppers. The taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the prey was higher during the dry season than the rainy season, likely because reduced prey availability in the dry season forced lizards to diversify their diets to meet their nutritional demands. Dietary and phylogenetic composition varied seasonally depending on the species, but only dietary composition varied with altitude. Seasonal dietary turnover was greater in S. spinosus than in S. bicanthalis, suggesting site-specific seasonal variability in prey availability; no other differences among species were observed. S. bicanthalis, which lives at the highest altitude in our study site, displayed interseasonal variation in diet breadth. Dietary differences were correlated with the species' feeding strategies and elevational distribution, which likely contributed to the coexistence of these lizard species in the studied geographic area and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio Hernández
- Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Stephanie Hereira-Pacheco
- Estación Científica La Malinche, Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Antton Alberdi
- Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Aníbal H Díaz DE LA Vega-Pérez
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Arturo Estrada-Torres
- Estación Científica La Malinche, Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Sergio Ancona
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Yendi E Navarro-Noya
- Laboratorio de Interacciones Bióticas, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
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Makwela MM, Slotow R, Munyai TC. Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera) as Indicators of Sustainability in Agroecosystems: A Systematic Review. SUSTAINABILITY 2023; 15:3936. [PMID: 37680852 PMCID: PMC7615042 DOI: 10.3390/su15053936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
The sustainability of agroecosystems is at risk owing to continuous anthropogenic disturbance. As such, there is a need to evaluate indicator taxa that may be used to monitor the health of agricultural management systems. Carabid beetles are ubiquitous and functionally crucial in agroecosystems while at the same time are sensitive to the changes caused by management practices. Their quick response to anthropogenic disturbances has been proposed as a practical and realistic tool for monitoring the sustainability of agricultural practices. However, there is still disagreement about carabids as possible indicators of agroecosystem sustainability. We conducted a systematic review of the responses of carabid beetles to agricultural systems in different biogeographical areas. We examined whether these beetles could serve as potential indicators of agroecosystem sustainability. The ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus were used to search for papers published from 2000-2019. In total, we included 69 studies indicating the use of carabids to monitor the impact of management practices in agroecosystems. Most studies were conducted in European countries (n = 37), while Southern Africa and East Asia countries were significantly under-represented (n = 10). Carabid beetle response to agroecosystems varied between management practices, with biodiversity indices (n = 41: positive 60%, negative 19%, and neutral 19%) being the most measured response variable, followed by functional diversity (n = 28: positive 67%, negative 25%, and neutral 7%). Overall, our findings highlight the need for more research in underdeveloped countries, to investigate the potential of overlooked carabids and include response variables measuring functional diversity in assessing the sustainability of agricultural management. This will assist policy makers and land managers in making active and informed decisions about agroecological disturbances and management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria M. Makwela
- School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa
| | - Rob Slotow
- Oppenheimer Fellow in Functional Biodiversity, Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa
| | - Thinandavha C. Munyai
- School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa
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Parr CL, Bishop TR. The response of ants to climate change. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:3188-3205. [PMID: 35274797 PMCID: PMC9314018 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms-their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals. Given the climatic changes that our planet faces, we need to understand how various important taxonomic groups will respond; this includes the ants. In this review, we synthesize the available literature to tackle this question. The answer is complicated. The ant literature has focused on temperature, and we broadly understand the ways in which thermal changes may affect ant colonies, populations, and communities. In general, we expect that species living in the Tropics, and in thermally variable microhabitats, such as the canopy and leaf litter environments, will be negatively impacted by rising temperatures. Species living in the temperate zones and those able to thermally buffer their nests in the soil or behaviorally avoid higher temperatures, however, are likely to be unaffected or may even benefit from a changed climate. How ants will respond to changes to other abiotic drivers associated with climate change is largely unknown, as is the detail on how altered ant populations and communities will ramify through their wider ecological networks. We discuss how eusociality may allow ants to adapt to, or tolerate, climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot and we identify key geographic and phylogenetic hotspots of climate vulnerability and resistance. We finish by emphasizing the key research questions that we need to address moving forward so that we may fully appreciate how this critical insect group will respond to the ongoing climate crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine L. Parr
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological SciencesUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpoolUK
- Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental SciencesUniversity of the WitwatersrandWitsSouth Africa
| | - Tom R. Bishop
- Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
- School of BiosciencesCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
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Neves FS, Antoniazzi R, Camarota F, Pacelhe FT, Powell S. Spatiotemporal dynamics of the ant community in a dry forest differ by vertical strata but not by successional stage. Biotropica 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Frederico S. Neves
- Departamento de Genética Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Reuber Antoniazzi
- Red de Ecoetología Instituto de Ecología A.C. Xalapa, Veracruz Mexico
| | - Flávio Camarota
- Departamento de Biologia Geral Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa, Minas Gerais Brazil
- Department of Biological Sciences The George Washington University Washington DC USA
| | - Fábio T. Pacelhe
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Scott Powell
- Department of Biological Sciences The George Washington University Washington DC USA
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Muluvhahothe MM, Joseph GS, Seymour CL, Munyai TC, Foord SH. Repeated surveying over 6 years reveals that fine-scale habitat variables are key to tropical mountain ant assemblage composition and functional diversity. Sci Rep 2021; 11:56. [PMID: 33420160 PMCID: PMC7794360 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80077-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
High-altitude-adapted ectotherms can escape competition from dominant species by tolerating low temperatures at cooler elevations, but climate change is eroding such advantages. Studies evaluating broad-scale impacts of global change for high-altitude organisms often overlook the mitigating role of biotic factors. Yet, at fine spatial-scales, vegetation-associated microclimates provide refuges from climatic extremes. Using one of the largest standardised data sets collected to date, we tested how ant species composition and functional diversity (i.e., the range and value of species traits found within assemblages) respond to large-scale abiotic factors (altitude, aspect), and fine-scale factors (vegetation, soil structure) along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa. Altitude emerged as the principal factor explaining species composition. Analysis of nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity indicated that ant assemblages are specific to each elevation, so species are not filtered out but replaced with new species as elevation increases. Similarity of assemblages over time (assessed using beta decay) did not change significantly at low and mid elevations but declined at the highest elevations. Assemblages also differed between northern and southern mountain aspects, although at highest elevations, composition was restricted to a set of species found on both aspects. Functional diversity was not explained by large scale variables like elevation, but by factors associated with elevation that operate at fine scales (i.e., temperature and habitat structure). Our findings highlight the significance of fine-scale variables in predicting organisms' responses to changing temperature, offering management possibilities that might dilute climate change impacts, and caution when predicting assemblage responses using climate models, alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mulalo M Muluvhahothe
- SARChI-Chair On Biodiversity Value and Change, Department of Zoology and Centre for Invasion Biology, School of Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, South Africa
| | - Grant S Joseph
- SARChI-Chair On Biodiversity Value and Change, Department of Zoology and Centre for Invasion Biology, School of Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, South Africa.
- DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.
| | - Colleen L Seymour
- DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
- South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre, Private Bag X7, Claremont, 7735, South Africa
| | - Thinandavha C Munyai
- School of Life Science, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa
| | - Stefan H Foord
- SARChI-Chair On Biodiversity Value and Change, Department of Zoology and Centre for Invasion Biology, School of Mathematical and Natural Science, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, South Africa
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