Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness?
In spite of the ecological dominance of Neotropical ants and termites, little is understood about how their interactions influence their species richness and distribution. We surveyed ground-dwelling termite and ant species in a primary rainforest in Ecuador and analyzed ecological correlates of div...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2012-01-01
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| Series: | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/312054 |
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| author | Amy L. Mertl James F. A. Traniello Kari Ryder Wilkie Reginaldo Constantino |
| author_facet | Amy L. Mertl James F. A. Traniello Kari Ryder Wilkie Reginaldo Constantino |
| author_sort | Amy L. Mertl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In spite of the ecological dominance of Neotropical ants and termites, little is understood about how their interactions influence their species richness and distribution. We surveyed ground-dwelling termite and ant species in a primary rainforest in Ecuador and analyzed ecological correlates of diversity. Termite richness was positively correlated with ant richness and abundance of twig-nesting ants. We found no evidence of competition for twigs between termites and ants. No ecological factors were correlated with termite diversity although elevation and twig and log abundance influenced ant diversity. When ant richness was compared to the richness of termites employing different predator defenses, a positive correlation was found with soldierless termites, but not genera employing chemical or mechanical defense. Our results suggest that multiple ecological factors influence ant and termite diversity, and that ant predation on termites may have a greater effect than competition between ant and termites for nest sites and food sources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-08c7f062e7774f77a45419fcb7bcded2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0033-2615 1687-7438 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| spelling | doaj-art-08c7f062e7774f77a45419fcb7bcded22025-02-03T05:54:05ZengWileyPsyche: A Journal of Entomology0033-26151687-74382012-01-01201210.1155/2012/312054312054Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness?Amy L. Mertl0James F. A. Traniello1Kari Ryder Wilkie2Reginaldo Constantino3Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USADepartamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 Brasília, DF, BrazilIn spite of the ecological dominance of Neotropical ants and termites, little is understood about how their interactions influence their species richness and distribution. We surveyed ground-dwelling termite and ant species in a primary rainforest in Ecuador and analyzed ecological correlates of diversity. Termite richness was positively correlated with ant richness and abundance of twig-nesting ants. We found no evidence of competition for twigs between termites and ants. No ecological factors were correlated with termite diversity although elevation and twig and log abundance influenced ant diversity. When ant richness was compared to the richness of termites employing different predator defenses, a positive correlation was found with soldierless termites, but not genera employing chemical or mechanical defense. Our results suggest that multiple ecological factors influence ant and termite diversity, and that ant predation on termites may have a greater effect than competition between ant and termites for nest sites and food sources.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/312054 |
| spellingShingle | Amy L. Mertl James F. A. Traniello Kari Ryder Wilkie Reginaldo Constantino Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| title | Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? |
| title_full | Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? |
| title_fullStr | Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? |
| title_short | Associations of Two Ecologically Significant Social Insect Taxa in the Litter of an Amazonian Rainforest: Is There a Relationship between Ant and Termite Species Richness? |
| title_sort | associations of two ecologically significant social insect taxa in the litter of an amazonian rainforest is there a relationship between ant and termite species richness |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/312054 |
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