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Biodiversity of ant species along a disturbance gradient in residential environments of Puerto Rico

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Abstract

One of the most effective ways to describe the successional gradient of an environment is by using measures of biodiversity. We investigated the biodiversity of ant communities (known tramp/structure invaders) in an environment undergoing urban succession to characterize how ant communities changed along a disturbance gradient. Ant community dynamics were examined within three Puerto Rican housing developments of different ages. Within each development, we assessed the ant community using biodiversity measures of richness, abundance, diversity and evenness. We also studied changes in biodiversity within each development over time as well as how biodiversity related to food preferences within the ant communities. In general, the biodiversity measures increased as the age of the housing development increased. Monthly changes in biodiversity indicated that month was a better predictor of biodiversity in the most recently disturbed development, while the biodiversity in the older developments was less predictable from month to month. The biodiversity measures also suggested that the ant community in the youngest development was comprised mostly of generalist feeders. However, the older sites’ ant species appeared to have more specific feeding preferences. Based on the biodiversity measures of these ant communities, our findings suggest that the housing developments of different ages represented advancing stages of secondary succession. Furthermore, this study indicated that the succession of ant species occurs rapidly (<10 years) in urban environments, resulting in a relatively diverse ant community.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank those individuals who contributed to this research project. Donald Bieman, of the San Pedrito Institute, helped us to choose the research sites and provided on-site assistance collecting samples. Alan Harms, of Mycogen Seeds Research Station, supplied us with weather data for the area. Tim McCoy, David Moore, Hamilton Allen, and Tamara Sutphin, of the Dodson Urban Pest Management Laboratory, also contributed their assistance processing the samples. We would also like to thank Roy Snelling and Juan Torres for providing a copy of their manuscript on the ants of Puerto Rico for ant identification. Additionally, Matthew Buffington and Mark Deyrup offered their taxonomic assistance with ant identifications. Dr. Eric Smith, of the Virginia Tech Department of Statistics, contributed a great amount of time and guidance with the statistical analysis.

Ethical standards

The authors declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 216A Price Hall (0319), Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Preston H. Brown, Dini M. Miller, Carlyle C. Brewster & Richard D. Fell

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  1. Preston H. Brown
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  2. Dini M. Miller
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  3. Carlyle C. Brewster
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  4. Richard D. Fell
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Correspondence to Preston H. Brown.

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Brown, P.H., Miller, D.M., Brewster, C.C. et al. Biodiversity of ant species along a disturbance gradient in residential environments of Puerto Rico. Urban Ecosyst 16, 175–192 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0260-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0260-5

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