Community Ecology
Volume/Issue:
Volume 19: Issue 3
Determinants of ant species spatial distribution in habitats from central Argentina
Authors:
J. Tavella CONICET–Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, (5000) Córdoba, Argentina

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A. P. Alvarez Pringles CONICET–Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, (5000) Córdoba, Argentina

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L. Cagnolo CONICET–Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, (5000) Córdoba, Argentina

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Pages:
300–310
Online Publication Date:
Dec 2018
Publication Date:
01 Dec 2018
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/168.2018.19.3.11
Keywords:
Body size; Extra-floral nectar availability; Habitat complexity; Nestedness; Null models; Segregation
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A great challenge in ecology is to link patterns in nature with the factors that determine species coexistence and community structure. In general, these patterns have been associated with different environmental conditions and species traits. The coexistence of ant species could be affected by the availability of food and nesting resources, which depend on vegetation diversity and structural complexity. In this study, we attempt to reproduce, through null models, the properties of ant community structure in areas with different physiognomy of vegetation associated to different wildfire regimes. The null model construction considered ant traits such as occurrence frequency, body size, and nest type; and site characteristics such as vegetation height and extra-floral nectar availability, and their combinations. The null models were compared to observed species segregation and nestedness patterns. Ant species were more aggregated in space than expected by chance. Vegetation height and extra-floral nectar availability were included in the most successful models in predicting ant segregation and aggregation pattern. Furthermore, ants’ body size was enough to reproduce the nestedness of species distribution in sites. Our results suggest that under post-fire conditions, habitat complexity, resource availability and species traits such as body size may be the determinants of ant community structure.

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Cover Community Ecology
Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies
Print ISSN:
1585-8553
Online ISSN:
1588-2756

Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)

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