Spatial and functional structure of an entire ant assemblage in a lowland Panamanian rainforest

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F21%3A43903638" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/21:43903638 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179121001031?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179121001031?via%3Dihub</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.06.007" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.baae.2021.06.007</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Spatial and functional structure of an entire ant assemblage in a lowland Panamanian rainforest

Original language description

Ants are a major ecological group in tropical rainforests. Few studies in the Neotropics have documented the distribution of ants from the ground to the canopy, and none have included the understorey. A previous analysis of an intensive arthropod study in Panama, involving 11 sampling methods, showed that the factors influencing ant beta diversity (i.e., changes in assemblage composition) were, in decreasing order of importance, the vertical (height), temporal (season), and horizontal (geographic distance) dimensions. In the present study, we went one step further and aimed (1) to identify the best sampling methods to study the entire ant assemblage across the three strata, (2) to test if all strata show a similar horizontal beta diversity and (3) to analyze the functional structure of the entire ant assemblage. We identified 405 ant species from 11 subfamilies and 68 genera. Slightly more species were sampled in the canopy than on the ground; they belonged to distinct sub-assemblages. The understorey fauna was mainly a mixture of species found in the other two strata. The horizontal beta diversity between sites was similar for the three strata. About half of the ant species foraged in two (29%) or three (25%) strata. A single method, aerial flight interception traps placed alongside tree trunks, acting as arboreal pitfall traps, collected half of the species and reflected the vertical stratification. Using the functional traits approach, we observed that generalist species with mid-sized colonies were by far the most numerous (31%), followed by ground- or litter-dwelling species, either specialists (20%), or generalists (16%), and arboreal species, either generalists (19%) or territorially dominant (8%), and finally army ants (5%). Our results reinforce the idea that a proper understanding of the functioning of ant assemblages requires the inclusion of arboreal ants in survey programs. (C) 2021 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

<a href="/en/project/EE.2.3.20.0064" target="_blank" >EE.2.3.20.0064: Centrum excelence pro globální studium funkce a biodiverzity lesních ekosystémů</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Basic and Applied Ecology

ISSN

1439-1791

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

56

Issue of the periodical within the volume

NOV 2021

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

32-44

UT code for WoS article

000707398700006

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85111869723