Tom, M. Fayle and Lieneke, Bakker and Cheah, Cheryl and Tan, Mui Ching and Alexandra, Davey and Francesca, Dem and Adam, Earl and Huaimei, Yong and Steve, Hyland and Bjoern, Johansson and Emma, Ligtermoet and Robin, Lim and Phuong Thi Thanh Sam and Ling, Kai Lin and Bruno, Herlander martins and Ana, Filipa Palmeirim and Sithisack Paninhuan and Sebastian, Kepfer Rojas and Legi, Sam and Phuong Thi Thanh Sam and Dwi, Susanto and Agus, Wahyudi and Judy, Walsh and Stefanie, Weigl and Paul, G. Craze and Robert, Jehle and Dan, Metcalfe and Rosie, Trevelyan (2010) A positive relationship between ant biodiversity (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) and rate of scavenger-mediated nutrient redistribution along a disturbance gradient in a south-east Asian rain forest. Myrmecological News. pp. 5-12. ISSN 1994-4136
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Abstract
Human modification of pristine habitats almost always leads to the local extinction of a subset of the species present. This means that the ecosystem processes carried out by the remaining species may change. It is well documented that particular species of ants carry out important ecosystem processes. However, while much work has been carried out to investigate the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in other taxa, this has received relatively little attention for ant communities. In particular, no attempt has been made to link levels of ant diversity with the rates of nutrient redistribution carried out by scavenging species. Here we investigate the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on the rate of scavenger-mediated nutrient redistribution, using bait-removal rate as a surrogate measure. We found that although ant species richness, diversity, biomass and rates of bait removal did not change systematically across the disturbance gradient, the rate of bait removal was related to ant species richness. Sites with more ant species experienced a faster rate of bait removal. This is the first documented positive relationship between ant species richness and the rate of an ecosystem process. If these results are applicable at larger spatial scales for a wider range of nutrient sources, loss of ant species could lead to important changes in the way that ecosystems function.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword: | Ecosystem function, ecosystem process, scavenging, baiting, Malaysia, Danum Valley, rainforest, disturbance, Formicidae, nutrient redistribution |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QL Zoology > QL1-991 Zoology > QL360-599.82 Invertebrates > QL461-599.82 Insects |
| Department: | INSTITUTE > Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation |
| Depositing User: | ADMIN ADMIN |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2011 17:28 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Oct 2017 10:35 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/2256 |
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