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Extrafloral nectar as a driver of ant community spatial structure along disturbance and rainfall gradients in Brazilian dry forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

Carlos Henrique Félix da Silva Open the ORCID record for Carlos Henrique Félix da Silva [Opens in a new window] ,
Xavier Arnan ,
Alan N. Andersen  and
Inara R. Leal
Carlos Henrique Félix da Silva
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP: 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brasil
Xavier Arnan
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP: 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brasil CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalunya, Spain
Alan N. Andersen
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Dr, Casuarina, Northern Territory, 0810, Australia
Inara R. Leal*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP: 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brasil
*
*Author for correspondence: Inara R. Leal, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Although extrafloral nectar (EFN) is a key food resource for arboreal ants, its role in structuring ground-nesting ant communities has received little attention, despite these ants also being frequent EFN-attendants. We investigated the role of EFN as a driver of the spatial structure of ground-nesting ant communities occurring in dry forest in north-eastern Brazil. We examined the effects on this relationship of two global drivers of biodiversity decline, chronic anthropogenic disturbance and climate change (through decreasing rainfall). We mapped EFN-producing plants and ant nests in 20 plots distributed along independent gradients of disturbance and rainfall. We categorized ant species into three types according to their dependence on EFN: heavy users, occasional users and non-users. We found a strong relationship between ant dependence on EFN and nest proximity to EFN-producing plants: heavy-users (mean distance 1.1 m) nested closer to EFN-producing plants than did occasional users (1.7 m), which in turn nested closer to EFN-producing plants than did non-users (2.3 m). Neither disturbance nor rainfall affected the proximity of heavy-user nests to EFN-producing plants. Our study shows for the first time that EFN is a key driver of the spatial structure of entire communities of ground-nesting ants.

Keywords

Aridityclimate changedry foresthuman disturbanceoptimal foraging
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , November 2019 , pp. 280 - 287
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

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