Effects of Habitat Amount and Configuration on Ant Functional Traits in a Neotropical Rainforest
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v73i3.12407Keywords:
Edge Effect, Formicidae, habitat loss, fragmentation, Atlantic ForestAbstract
Habitat loss and fragmentation are synergetic drivers reshaping and threatening biodiversity. Although several studies have evaluated the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on species diversity, understanding how functional traits are linked to these responses is a relatively recent approach. Ants are fundamental components of different ecosystems, especially in tropical forests where they are dominant. We analyze how functional traits of ants respond to forest cover loss and the increasing edge density in 20 forest sites in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We found a strong relationship between functional traits and both predictors. Specifically, forest fragments embedded in landscapes with higher edge density (i.e., a higher total length of habitat edges per unit area) showed ants with larger appendages (legs, antennal scape) and larger clypeus than those in landscapes with lower edge density. In addition, forest amount and the overall anthropic characteristics of the landscapes jointly affected ant species with larger mandibles. Altogether, our study identified a set of morphological traits correlated with the higher vulnerability of ant species to changes in landscape structure. Implications for insect conservation: we have seen that species with smaller clypeus, leg, and antennal scape are more susceptible to edge effects. Identifying the key species’ attributes making them more susceptible to the impacts of habitat loss and edge effects will help to set more precise conservation goals for vulnerable ecosystems such as tropical rainforests. Keywords: Edge effects, Formicidae, fragmentation, habitat loss.
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