Cargando…

Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants

1. Understanding the drivers of ant diversity and co-occurrence in agroecosystems is fundamental because ants participate in interactions that influence agroecosystem processes. Multiple local and regional factors influence ant community assembly. 2. We examined local factors that influence the stru...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Jiménez-Soto, Estelí, Philpott, Stacy M
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4569026/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26380664
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1555
_version_ 1782389983363989504
author Jiménez-Soto, Estelí
Philpott, Stacy M
author_facet Jiménez-Soto, Estelí
Philpott, Stacy M
author_sort Jiménez-Soto, Estelí
collection PubMed
description 1. Understanding the drivers of ant diversity and co-occurrence in agroecosystems is fundamental because ants participate in interactions that influence agroecosystem processes. Multiple local and regional factors influence ant community assembly. 2. We examined local factors that influence the structure of a twig-nesting ant community in a coffee system in Mexico using an experimental approach. We investigated whether twig characteristics (nest entrance size and diversity of nest entrance sizes) and nest strata (canopy shade tree or coffee shrub) affected occupation, species richness, and community composition of twig-nesting ants and whether frequency of occupation of ant species varied with particular nest entrance sizes or strata. 3. We conducted our study in a shaded coffee farm in Chiapas, Mexico, between March and June 2012. We studied ant nest colonization by placing artificial nests (bamboo twigs) on coffee shrubs and shade trees either in diverse or uniform treatments. We also examined whether differences in vegetation (no. of trees, canopy cover and coffee density) influenced nest colonization. 4. We found 33 ant species occupying 73% of nests placed. Nest colonization did not differ with nest strata or size. Mean species richness of colonizing ants was significantly higher in the diverse nest size entrance treatment, but did not differ with nest strata. Community composition differed between strata and also between the diverse and uniform size treatments on coffee shrubs, but not on shade trees. Some individual ant species were more frequently found in certain nest strata and in nests with certain entrance sizes. 5. Our results indicate that twig-nesting ants are nest-site limited, quickly occupy artificial nests of many sizes, and that trees or shrubs with twigs of a diversity of entrance sizes likely support higher ant species richness. Further, individual ant species more frequently occupy nests with different sized entrances promoting ant richness on individual coffee plants and trees.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4569026
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-45690262015-09-17 Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants Jiménez-Soto, Estelí Philpott, Stacy M Ecol Evol Original Research 1. Understanding the drivers of ant diversity and co-occurrence in agroecosystems is fundamental because ants participate in interactions that influence agroecosystem processes. Multiple local and regional factors influence ant community assembly. 2. We examined local factors that influence the structure of a twig-nesting ant community in a coffee system in Mexico using an experimental approach. We investigated whether twig characteristics (nest entrance size and diversity of nest entrance sizes) and nest strata (canopy shade tree or coffee shrub) affected occupation, species richness, and community composition of twig-nesting ants and whether frequency of occupation of ant species varied with particular nest entrance sizes or strata. 3. We conducted our study in a shaded coffee farm in Chiapas, Mexico, between March and June 2012. We studied ant nest colonization by placing artificial nests (bamboo twigs) on coffee shrubs and shade trees either in diverse or uniform treatments. We also examined whether differences in vegetation (no. of trees, canopy cover and coffee density) influenced nest colonization. 4. We found 33 ant species occupying 73% of nests placed. Nest colonization did not differ with nest strata or size. Mean species richness of colonizing ants was significantly higher in the diverse nest size entrance treatment, but did not differ with nest strata. Community composition differed between strata and also between the diverse and uniform size treatments on coffee shrubs, but not on shade trees. Some individual ant species were more frequently found in certain nest strata and in nests with certain entrance sizes. 5. Our results indicate that twig-nesting ants are nest-site limited, quickly occupy artificial nests of many sizes, and that trees or shrubs with twigs of a diversity of entrance sizes likely support higher ant species richness. Further, individual ant species more frequently occupy nests with different sized entrances promoting ant richness on individual coffee plants and trees. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 2015-08 2015-07-17 /pmc/articles/PMC4569026/ /pubmed/26380664 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1555 Text en © 2015 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Jiménez-Soto, Estelí
Philpott, Stacy M
Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title_full Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title_fullStr Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title_full_unstemmed Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title_short Size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
title_sort size matters: nest colonization patterns for twig-nesting ants
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4569026/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26380664
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1555
work_keys_str_mv AT jimenezsotoesteli sizemattersnestcolonizationpatternsfortwignestingants
AT philpottstacym sizemattersnestcolonizationpatternsfortwignestingants