Canopy and litter ant assemblages share similar climate–species density relationships

Tropical forest canopies house most of the globe's diversity, yet little is known about global patterns and drivers of canopy diversity. Here, we present models of ant species density, using climate, abundance and habitat (i.e. canopy versus litter) as predictors. Ant species density is positiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology letters (2005) 2010-12, Vol.6 (6), p.769-772
Main Authors: Weiser, Michael D., Sanders, Nathan J., Agosti, Donat, Andersen, Alan N., Ellison, Aaron M., Fisher, Brian L., Gibb, Heloise, Gotelli, Nicholas J., Gove, Aaron D., Gross, Kevin, Guénard, Benoit, Janda, Milan, Kaspari, Michael, Lessard, Jean-Philippe, Longino, John T., Majer, Jonathan D., Menke, Sean B., McGlynn, Terrence P., Parr, Catherine L., Philpott, Stacy M., Retana, Javier, Suarez, Andrew V., Vasconcelos, Heraldo L., Yanoviak, Stephen P., Dunn, Robert R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Ants - physiology
Community Ecology
Ecosystem
Formicidae
Global Diversity Gradients
Linear Models
Models, Biological
Population Density
Species Richness
Species Specificity
Trees
Tropical Climate
Weather
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Summary:Tropical forest canopies house most of the globe's diversity, yet little is known about global patterns and drivers of canopy diversity. Here, we present models of ant species density, using climate, abundance and habitat (i.e. canopy versus litter) as predictors. Ant species density is positively associated with temperature and precipitation, and negatively (or non-significantly) associated with two metrics of seasonality, precipitation seasonality and temperature range. Ant species density was significantly higher in canopy samples, but this difference disappeared once abundance was considered. Thus, apparent differences in species density between canopy and litter samples are probably owing to differences in abundance–diversity relationships, and not differences in climate–diversity relationships. Thus, it appears that canopy and litter ant assemblages share a common abundance–diversity relationship influenced by similar but not identical climatic drivers.
ISSN:1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0151