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Pienaar R, Bishop TBB, St Clair SB. Rodent competition and fire alter patterns of mound and disk formation of western harvester ants. Oecologia 2024:10.1007/s00442-024-05617-9. [PMID: 39299969 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05617-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/28/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
Consumers exert top-down controls on dryland ecosystem function, but recent increases in fire activity may alter consumer communities in post-fire environments. Native consumers, including ants and rodents, likely have critical roles in defining post-fire plant community assembly and resilience to biological invasions. This study aimed to understand how western harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) that form mounds and large vegetation-free disks that significantly influence plant community structure in the Great Basin Desert respond to fire and rodent community abundance. We tested this by installing treatment plots that excluded or allowed rodents and were burned or unburned in a full factorial design. We measured ant disk and mound size and density in each experimental plot. Fire increased ant mound density by 126% compared to unburned plots. Rodent presence decreased mound density by 59%, mound diameter by 13%, and mound height by 166%. We also show an interaction where the adverse effects of rodents on ant disk density were greater in burned than in unburned plots. The results suggest that booms in rodent populations are likely to have suppressive effects on ant mound and disk formation in native shrublands but that harvester ants may be released from rodent competition with the emergence of invasive grass-fire cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Pienaar
- Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA.
| | - Tara B B Bishop
- Department of Earth Science, Utah Valley University, 800 W. University Parkway, Orem, UT, 84058, USA
| | - Samuel B St Clair
- Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA
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de Araújo Galvão AR, Bailez O, Viana-Bailez AM, Abib PH, Pimentel FA, Lavinscky Pereira TP. Parasitism by Phorids on Leaf Cutter Ants Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Natural and Agricultural Environments. Zoolog Sci 2021; 36:357-364. [PMID: 33319958 DOI: 10.2108/zs180190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The leaf cutter ant Atta sexdens (L.) (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) causes huge economic losses to agriculture in the Neotropics. In natural environments, parasitic flies of the Phoridae family are natural enemies of leaf cutter ants. Habitat modification is considered one of the main causes of species decline. In this study, we compare the occurrence of parasitic phorids on A. sexdens and the parasitism that they cause on colonies located in agricultural and natural habitats. Phorid flies were collected from trails, nest entrances, and cutting sites when they were hovering over workers of A. sexdens nests from natural vegetation, farmland, and Eucalyptus plantation areas. Simultaneously, workers from A. sexdens nests were collected from these environments, and the parasitism rates of phorids were determined. Ants were parasitized by Apocephalus attophilus, A. vicosae, Eibesfeldtphora bragancai, E. tonhascai, and Myrmosicarius grandicornis. The highest parasitism rate (3.54 ± 0.49%) was registered for nests from the Eucalyptus plantations. The rate of parasitism of nest from natural vegetation was 2.42 ± 0.40% and in the farmland was 1.91 ± 0.39%. The parasitism of each phorid genus varied according to habitat and month. Apocephalus attophilus had the highest parasitism in the three habitats and displayed biological characteristics that give it great potential as a biological control agent for A. sexdens. Eibesfeldtphora spp. had higher parasitism in a natural environment and M. grandicornis in agricultural environments. Apocephalus attophilus and M. grandicornis seemed able to occur in a wide variety of habitats that their hosts occupy, but the rate of parasitism by Eibesfeldtphora spp. was significantly lower in agricultural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roger de Araújo Galvão
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, CEP 28013-602 Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Omar Bailez
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, CEP 28013-602 Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
| | - Ana Maria Viana-Bailez
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, CEP 28013-602 Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Pedro Henrique Abib
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, CEP 28013-602 Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Fabíola Aparecida Pimentel
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, CEP 28013-602 Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Fagundes R, Lange D, Anjos DV, Paixão de Lima F, Nahas L, Corro EJ, Gomes Silva PB, Del-Claro K, Ribeiro SP, Dáttilo W. Limited effects of fire disturbances on the species diversity and structure of ant-plant interaction networks in Brazilian Cerrado. ACTA OECOLOGICA 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2018.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Lutinski JA, Baucke L, Filtro M, Busato MA, Knakiewicz AC, Garcia FRM. Ant assemblage (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in three wind farms in the State of Paraná, Brazil. BRAZ J BIOL 2017; 77:176-184. [DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.14115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract The transformation of natural habitats into areas destined to agriculture or projects of energy production has generated a growing concern about the impact on biological diversity. Thus, this study evaluated the diversity of ants in agroecosystems in the area of direct influence of three wind farms in the municipality of Marmeleiro, State of Paraná and examined the association of occurrences with sampling periods. To this end, four samplings were conducted in 2013, one per season. Pitfalls, Malaise trap and Net sweep were used. The assemblages were characterized and compared using richness and number of occurrences of ants. Chao 2 estimates were calculated and a comparison (rarefaction analysis) of the assemblages was performed. The association of the species with the samples was evaluated by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Altogether, there were 1,576 occurrences of ants, totaling 55 species. The obtained estimate indicated that richness may be up to 35% higher. Our study adds important information about richness and occurrence of ants in a region poorly analyzed for this group. Most of all, it presents a survey of species occurring in agricultural ecosystems that may serve as a parameter for future evaluations when wind farms are installed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - L. Baucke
- Impacto Assessoria Ambiental, Brazil
| | - M. Filtro
- Impacto Assessoria Ambiental, Brazil
| | - M. A. Busato
- Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó, Brazil
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Anjos DV, Caserio B, Rezende FT, Ribeiro SP, Del-Claro K, Fagundes R. Extrafloral-nectaries and interspecific aggressiveness regulate day/night turnover of ant species foraging for nectar on Bionia coriacea. AUSTRAL ECOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Diego V. Anjos
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Evolução e Meio Ambiente; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Ouro Preto MG 35400-000 Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia; Universidade de São Paulo; Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil
| | - Bárbara Caserio
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Evolução e Meio Ambiente; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Ouro Preto MG 35400-000 Brazil
| | - Felipe T. Rezende
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Evolução e Meio Ambiente; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Ouro Preto MG 35400-000 Brazil
| | - Sérvio P. Ribeiro
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Evolução e Meio Ambiente; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Ouro Preto MG 35400-000 Brazil
| | - Kleber Del-Claro
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia; Universidade de São Paulo; Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil
- Instituto de Biologia; Universidade Federal de Uberlândia; Uberlândia MG Brazil
| | - Roberth Fagundes
- Departamento de Biodiversidade; Evolução e Meio Ambiente; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Ouro Preto MG 35400-000 Brazil
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Queiroz ACM, Ribas CR. Canopy cover negatively affects arboreal ant species richness in a tropical open habitat. BRAZ J BIOL 2016; 76:864-870. [PMID: 27143066 DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.02015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis of a negative relationship between vegetation characteristics and ant species richness in a Brazilian open vegetation habitat, called candeial. We set up arboreal pitfalls to sample arboreal ants and measured the following environmental variables, which were used as surrogate of environmental heterogeneity: tree richness, tree density, tree height, circumference at the base of the plants, and canopy cover. Only canopy cover had a negative effect on the arboreal ant species richness. Vegetation characteristics and plant species composition are probably homogeneous in candeial, which explains the lack of relationship between other environmental variables and ant richness. Open vegetation habitats harbor a large number of opportunistic and generalist species, besides specialist ants from habitats with high temperatures. An increase in canopy cover decreases sunlight incidence and may cause local microclimatic differences, which negatively affect the species richness of specialist ants from open areas. Canopy cover regulates the richness of arboreal ants in open areas, since only few ant species are able to colonize sites with dense vegetation; most species are present in sites with high temperature and luminosity. Within open vegetation habitats the relationship between vegetation characteristics and species richness seems to be the opposite from closed vegetation areas, like forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C M Queiroz
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Formigas, Setor de Ecologia e Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, CP 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia Aplicada, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil
| | - C R Ribas
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Formigas, Setor de Ecologia e Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, CP 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil
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