Do Dominant Ants Affect Secondary Productivity, Behavior and Diversity in a Guild of Woodland Ants?

Journal Article · Wed Dec 02 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Diversity

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/d12120460· OSTI ID:1849898

Lessard, Jean-Philippe ^[1]; Stuble, Katharine L. ^[2]; Sanders, Nathan J. ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Concordia Univ., Montreal, QC (Canada). Dept. of Biology; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; The Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, OH (United States)
3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

The degree to which competition by dominant species shapes ecological communities remains a largely unresolved debate. In ants, unimodal dominance–richness relationships are common and suggest that dominant species, when very abundant, competitively exclude non-dominant species. However, few studies have investigated the underlying mechanisms by which dominant ants might affect coexistence and the maintenance of species richness. In this study, we first examined the relationship between the richness of non-dominant ant species and the abundance of a dominant ant species, Formica subsericea, among forest ant assemblages in the eastern US. This relationship was hump-shaped or not significant depending on the inclusion or exclusion of an influential observation. Moreover, we found only limited evidence that F. subsericea negatively affects the productivity or behavior of non-dominant ant species. For example, at the colony-level, the size and productivity of colonies of non-dominant ant species were not different when they were in close proximity to dominant ant nests than when they were away and, in fact, was associated with increased productivity in one species. Additionally, the number of foraging workers of only one non-dominant ant species was lower at food sources near than far from dominant F. subsericea nests, while the number of foragers of other species was not negatively affected. However, foraging activity of the non-dominant ant species was greater at night when F. subsericea was inactive, suggesting a potential mechanism by which some non-dominant species avoid interactions with competitively superior species. Gaining a mechanistic understanding of how patterns of community structure arise requires linking processes from colonies to communities. Our study suggests the negative effects of dominant ant species on non-dominant species may be offset by mechanisms promoting coexistence.

• Research Organization: North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: FG02-08ER64510
• OSTI ID: 1849898
• Journal Information: Diversity, Journal Name: Diversity Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 12; ISSN DIVEC6; ISSN 1424-2818
• Publisher: MDPI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Formicidae
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Biodiversity & Conservation
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
behavioral interactions
co-occurrence
coexistence
competitive exclusion
dominance
scale