Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as surrogates for epigeic arthropods in Northern Andalusian ‘dehesas’ (Spain)

Authors

  • Francisco Jiménez-Carmona Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain). http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3798-8764
  • Soledad Carpintero Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain).
  • Joaquín Luís Reyes-López Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i2.4895

Keywords:

bioindicators, formicidae, pastureland, holm oak, pitfall traps

Abstract

The ‘dehesas’ are important and vast agro-silvo-pastoral systems typical of the Iberian Peninsula that are undergoing a crisis due to their low economic profitability and environmental degradation. Thus, it is necessary to identify effective tools that provide a reliable idea of the status of these ecosystems as a starting point for future measures of conservation. In this study we analyse the possible role of ants as surrogates for epigeic arthropods, a common biodiversity indicator group. A total of 15 farms were sampled throughout Sierra Morena (Andalusia, Spain) with pitfall traps, both for the ‘dehesa’ habitats themselves and for different microhabitats within the study sites. First, we achieve a complete list of the species of ants of the area. The results indicate that the ‘dehesa’ habitats were very homogenous for all farms, while microhabitats showed differences in species richness and ant communities’ composition compared to the ‘dehesas’. To evaluate the role of ants as surrogates, the number of traps occupied by each order of arthropod and by each ant species was compared. We found a high correlation between them what confirm the surrogate character of ants for the rest of arthropods in these ecosystems.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Francisco Jiménez-Carmona, Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain).

PhD Student

Soledad Carpintero, Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain).

PhD

Joaquín Luís Reyes-López, Ecology Area, Departament of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, University of Cordoba (Spain).

Associate Professor

References

Abdi, H. (2010). Partial least squares regression and projection on latent structure regression (PLS Regression). Wiley Interdiscip Rev Comput Stat 2:97–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/wics.51

Agosti, D., Majer, J.D., Alonso, L.E., Schultz, T.R. (2000). Ants: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington

Allen, C.R., Pearlstine, L.G., Wojcik, D.P., Kitchens, W.M. (2001). The spatial distribution of diversity between disparate taxa: Spatial correspondence between mammals and ants across South Florida, USA. Landsc Ecol 16:453–464. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017998124698

Andersen, A. (1997). Using Ants as bioindicators: Multiscale Issues in Ant Community Ecology. Conserv Ecol 1:. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00014-010108

Bar-On, Y.M., Phillips, R., Milo, R. (2018). The biomass distribution on Earth. Proc Natl Acad Sci 115:6506–6511. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711842115

Barton, P.S., Evans, M.J., Sato, C.F., et al (2019). Higher-taxon and functional group responses of ant and bird assemblages to livestock grazing: A test of an explicit surrogate concept. Ecol Indic 96:458–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.09.026

Bennett, J.M., Kutt, A.S., Johnson, C.N., Robson, S.K.A. (2009). Ants as indicators for vertebrate fauna at a local scale: an assessment of cross-taxa surrogacy in a disturbed matrix. Biodivers Conserv 18:3407–3419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9650-2

Biaggini, M., Consorti, R., Dapporto, L., et al (2007). The taxonomic level order as a possible tool for rapid assessment of Arthropod diversity in agricultural landscapes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 122:183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.12.032

Caro, T. (2010). Conservation by proxy: indicator, umbrella, keystone, flagship and other surrogate species, 1st edn. Island Press, Washington

Carpintero, S., Retana, J., Cerdá, X., et al (2007). Exploitative strategies of the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) and native ant species in a southern Spanish pine forest. Environ Entomol 36:1100–11. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/0046-225X(2007)36[1100:ESOTIA]2.0.CO;2

Cecil, E.M., Spasojevic, M.J., Cushman, J.H. (2019). Cascading effects of mammalian herbivores on ground‐dwelling arthropods: Variable responses across arthropod groups, habitats and years. J Anim Ecol 88:1319–1331. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13033

Crist, T.O. (2009). Biodiversity, species interactions, and functional roles of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in fragmented landscapes: a review. Myrmecological News 12:3–13

Crist, T.O., Wiens, J.A. (1996). The distribution of ant colonies in a semiarid landscape: implications for community and ecosystem processes. Oikos 76:301. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546202

Cros, S., Cerdá, X., Retana, J. (1997). Spatial and temporal variations in the activity patterns of Mediterranean ant communities. Ecoscience 4:269–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.1997.11682405

Dauber, J., Hirsch, M., Simmering, D., et al (2003). Landscape structure as an indicator of biodiversity: matrix effects on species richness. Agric Ecosyst Environ 98:321–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(03)00092-6

Diamé, L., Rey, J.-Y., Vayssières, J.-F., et al (2017). Ants: major functional elements in fruit agro-ecosystems and biological control agents. Sustainability 10:23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010023

Duque-Lazo, J., Navarro-Cerrillo, R.M. (2017). What to save, the host or the pest? The spatial distribution of xylophage insects within the Mediterranean oak woodlands of Southwestern Spain. For Ecol Manage 392:90–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.02.047

Escribano, M., Díaz-Caro, C., Mesias, F.J. (2018). A participative approach to develop sustainability indicators for dehesa agroforestry farms. Sci Total Environ 640–641:89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.297

Folgarait, P. (1998). Ant biodiversity to ecosystem functioning: a review. Biodivers Conserv 7:1121–1244. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008891901953

Gadagkar, R., Nair, P., Chandrashekara, K., Bhat, D.M. (1993). Ant species richness and diversity in some selected localities of Western Ghats. Hexapoda 5:79–94

Gómez-Zotano, J., Alcántara-Manzanares, J., Olmedo-Cobo, J.A., Martínez-Ibarra, E. (2015). La sistematización del clima mediterráneo: identificación, clasificación y caracterización climática de Andalucía (España). Rev Geogr Norte Gd 61:161–180. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-34022015000200009

Gotelli, N.J., Colwell, R.K. (2001). Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00230.x

Gotelli, N.J., Ellison, A.M., Dunn, R.R., Sanders, N.J. (2011). Counting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): biodiversity sampling and statistical analysis for myrmecologists. Myrmecological News 15:13–19

Guan, Q., Liu, J., Batzer, D.P., et al (2018). Snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) as potential surrogates of overall aquatic invertebrate assemblage in wetlands of Northeastern China. Ecol Indic 90:193–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.01.069

Hammer, Ø., Harper, D.A.T., Ryan, P.D. (2001). PAST: paleontological statistics software package fore education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electron 4:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2008.05.025

Hanford, J.K., Crowther, M.S., Hochuli, D.F. (2017). Effectiveness of vegetation-based biodiversity offset metrics as surrogates for ants. Conserv Biol 31:161–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12794

Heino, J., Paavola, R., Virtanen, R., Muotka, T. (2005). Searching for biodiversity indicators in running waters: Do bryophytes, macroinvertebrates, and fish show congruent diversity patterns? Biodivers Conserv 14:415–428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-6064-z

Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E.O. (1990). The Ants. Belknap Press, Cambridge

Holmquist, J.G., Schmidt-Gengenbach, J. (2019). Arthropod Assemblages in a Montane Wetland Complex: Influences of Adjoining Lotic and Lentic Habitat and Temporal Variability. Wetlands 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-019-01175-6

Junta de Andalucía (2019). Rediam (Red de información ambiental de Andalucía). http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/portalweb/menuitem.7e1cf46ddf59bb227a9ebe205510e1ca/?vgnextoid=3beae207c1935310VgnVCM2000000624e50aRCRD&vgnextchannel=871e4d0e54345310VgnVCM1000001325e50aRCRD. Accessed 10 Sep 2019

Landeiro, V.L., Bini, L.M., Costa, F.R.C., et al (2012). How far can we go in simplifying biomonitoring assessments? An integrated analysis of taxonomic surrogacy, taxonomic sufficiency and numerical resolution in a megadiverse region. Ecol Indic 23:366–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.04.023

Laurila-Pant, M., Lehikoinen, A., Uusitalo, L., Venesjärvi, R. (2015). How to value biodiversity in environmental management? Ecol Indic 55:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.02.034

Leal, I.R., Bieber, A.G.D., Tabarelli, M., Andersen, A.N. (2010). Biodiversity surrogacy: indicator taxa as predictors of total species richness in Brazilian Atlantic forest and Caatinga. Biodivers Conserv 19:3347–3360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9896-8

Lewandowski, A.S., Noss, R.F., Parsons, D.R. (2010). The effectiveness of surrogate taxa for the representation of biodiversity. Conserv Biol 24:1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01513.x

Lindenmayer, D.B., Likens, G.E. (2011). Direct measurement versus surrogate indicator species for evaluating environmental change and biodiversity loss. Ecosystems 14:47–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9394-6

Majer, J.D., Orabi, G., Boisevac, L., et al (2007). Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) pass the bioindicator scorecard. Myrmecological News 10:69–76

Mantel, N. (1967). Cancer Research. Cancer Res 27:209–220

Menke, S.B., Vachter, N. (2014). A Comparison of the effectiveness of pitfall traps and winkler litter samples for characterization of terrestrial ant (Formicidae) communities in temperate savannas. Gt Lakes Entomol 47:149–165

Nakamura, A., Catterall, C.P., House, A.P.N.N., et al (2007). The use of ants and other soil and litter arthropods as bio-indicators of the impacts of rainforest clearing and subsequent land use. J Insect Conserv 11:177–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9034-9

Noss, R.F. (1990). Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: a hierarchical approach. Conserv Biol 4:355–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1990.tb00309.x

Osborn, F., Goitia, W., Cabrera, M., Jaffé, K. (1999). Ants, plants and butterflies as diversity indicators: comparisons between strata at six forest sites in Venezuela. Stud Neotrop Fauna Environ 34:59–64. https://doi.org/10.1076/snfe.34.3.59.8900

Pérez-Fuertes, O., García-Tejero, S., Pérez Hidalgo, N., et al (2016). Testing the effectiveness of surrogates for assessing biological diversity of arthropods in cereal agricultural landscapes. Ecol Indic 67:297–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.02.041

Pfeiffer, M., Chimedregzen, L., Ulykpan, K. (2003). Community organization and species richness of ants (Hymenoptera/Formicidae) in Mongolia along an ecological gradient from steppe to Gobi desert. J Biogeogr 30:1921–1935. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0305-0270.2003.00977.x

Philpott, S.M., Armbrecht, I. (2006). Biodiversity in tropical agroforests and the ecological role of ants and ant diversity in predatory function. Ecol Entomol 31:369–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.2006.00793.x

Prasifka, J.R., Lopez, M.D., Hellmich, R.L., et al (2007). Comparison of pitfall traps and litter bags for sampling ground-dwelling arthropods. J Appl Entomol 131:115–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0418.2006.01141.x

Pulido, F., Picardo, Á. (2010). Libro Verde de la Dehesa. Documento para el debate hacia una Estragegia Ibérica de gestión.

Ribas, C.R., Campos, R.B.F., Schmidt, F.A., Solar, R.R.C. (2012). Ants as indicators in Brazil: a review with suggestions to improve the use of ants in environmental monitoring programs. Psyche A J Entomol 2012:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/636749

Roig, X., Espadaler, X. (2010). Propuesta de grupos funcionales de hormigas para la Península Ibérica y Baleares , y su uso como bioindicadores [ Proposal of functional groups of ants for the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands , and their use as bioindicators ]. Iberomyrmex 2:28–29

Sackmann, P., Ruggiero, A., Kun, M., Farji-Brener, A.G. (2006). Efficiency of a rapid assessment of the diversity of ground beetles and ants, in natural and disturbed habitats of the Nahuel Huapi region (NW Patagonia, Argentina). Biodivers Conserv 15:2061–2084. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-005-2931-5

San Miguel, A. (1994). La dehesa española. Origen, tipología, características y gestión., 1st edn. Madrid

Sauberer, N., Zulka, K.P., Abensperg-Traun, M., et al (2004). Surrogate taxa for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes of eastern Austria. Biol Conserv 117:181–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00291-X

Schowalter, T. (2017). Arthropod diversity and functional importance in old-growth forests of north america. Forests 8:97. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8040097

Sheikh, A.H., Ganaie, G.A., Thomas, M., et al (2018). Ant pitfall trap sampling: an overview. J Entomol Res 42:421–436. https://doi.org/10.5958/0974-4576.2018.00072.5

Silva, T.H., Karunarathna, N.B., Karunaratne, W.A. (2017). Competence of litter ants for rapid biodiversity assessments. Int J Biodivers 2017:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6582191

Smith, M.A., Fisher, B.L., Hebert, P.D.N. (2005). DNA barcoding for effective biodiversity assessment of a hyperdiverse arthropod group: the ants of Madagascar. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci 360:1825–1834. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1714

Smouse, P.E., Long, J.C., Sokal, R.R. (1986). Multiple regression and correlation Mantel test of matrix correspondence. Syst Zool 35:627–632

StatSoft Inc. (2001). Statistica

Underwood, E.C., Fisher, B.L. (2006). The role of ants in conservation monitoring: If, when, and how. Biol Conserv 132:166–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.03.022

Uys, C., Hamer, M., Slotow, R. (2010). Step process for selecting and testing surrogates and indicators of afrotemperate corest invertebrate diversity. PLoS One 5:e9100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009100

Vasconcelos, H.L., Frizzo, T.L.M., Pacheco, R., et al (2014). Evaluating sampling sufficiency and the use of surrogates for assessing ant diversity in a Neotropical biodiversity hotspot. Ecol Indic 46:286–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.06.036

Verdinelli, M., Yakhlef, S., Cossu, C., et al (2017). Variability of ant community composition in cork oak woodlands across the Mediterranean region: implications for forest management. iForest - Biogeosciences For 10:707–714. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2321-010

Wang, C., Strazanac, J., Butler, L. (2001). A comparison of pitfall traps with bait traps for studying leaf litter ant communities. J Econ Entomol 94:761–765. https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-94.3.761

Wettstein, W., Schmid, B. (1999). Conservation of arthropod diversity in montane wetlands: effect of altitude, habitat quality and habitat fragmentation on butterflies and grasshoppers. J Appl Ecol 36:363–373. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2664.1999.00404.x

Yang, L.H., Gratton, C. (2014). Insects as drivers of ecosystem processes. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2:26–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2014.06.004

Downloads

Published

2020-06-30

How to Cite

Jiménez-Carmona, F., Carpintero, S., & Reyes-López, J. L. (2020). Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as surrogates for epigeic arthropods in Northern Andalusian ‘dehesas’ (Spain). Sociobiology, 67(2), 201–212. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i2.4895

Issue

Vol. 67 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Research Article - Ants

License

Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

 

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Most read articles by the same author(s)