Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Size and condition of bamboo as structural factors behind the vertical stratification of the bamboo-nesting ant community

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Insectes Sociaux Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nest-site limitation is an important factor regulating ant diversity, particularly at low elevations. In savannas, trees and shrubs do not support large nests in their crowns and cavities for nest sites are limited. However, bamboos are very common and can provide vertically stacked hollow chambers for ants to establish their colonies. We evaluated the bamboo species Guadua paniculata as a source of nest cavities for ants in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna). We hypothesized that the morphology of this bamboo species and its vertical arrangement regulate the distribution of ants nesting in it. Thirty bamboo patches distributed among four sites in the state of Tocantins (Brazil) were evaluated, in which 36 species of ants occupied more than half of the bamboo available. Wider and longer culms enabled a greater number of colonies of several ant species. Living or dead condition of bamboo had a significant effect on the diversity and composition of the ant fauna. Dead culms were occupied opportunistically by several generalist species, while Azteca fasciata dominated living bamboo. Finally, we observed the species distribution along a vertical gradient of bamboo height, and proposed that differential colonization of ground and canopy-dwelling species and habitat specialization may be key mechanisms for the observed pattern of distribution. This study contributes to a better understanding of species coexistence in low elevation forests in the Brazilian Cerrado by considering bamboo nest sites as a key factor affecting ant diversity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blüthgen N, Feldhaar H (2010) Food and shelter: how resources influence ant ecology. In: Lach L, Parr CL, Abbott KL (eds) Ant ecology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 115–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Blüthgen N, Stork NE (2007) Ant mosaics in a tropical rainforest in Australia and elsewhere: a critical review. Aust Ecol 32:93–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blüthgen N, Verhaagh M, Goitía W, Jaffé K, Morawetz W, Barthlott W (2000) How plants shape the ant community in the Amazonian rainforest canopy: the key role of extrafloral nectaries and homopteran honeydew. Oecologia 125:229–240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brower JC, Kile KM (1988) Sedation of an original data matrix as applied to paleoecology. Lethaia 21:79–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buschinger A, Klein RW, Maschwitz U (1994) Colony structure of a bamboo-dwelling Tetraponera sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Pseudomyrmecinae) from Malaysia. Insect Soc 41:29–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camacho GP, Vasconcelos HL (2015) Ants of the Panga Ecological Station, a Cerrado reserve in central Brazil. Sociobiology 62:281–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camarota F, Powell S, Vasconcelos HL, Priest G, Marquis RJ (2015) Extrafloral nectaries have a limited effect on the structure of arboreal ant communities in a Neotropical savanna. Ecology 96:231–240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton WD, Vorontsova MS, Harman KT, Williamson H (2006) GrassBase—the online world grass flora. http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html. Accessed 25 September 2015

  • Cobb M, Watkins K, Silva EN, Nascimento IC, Delabie JHC (2006) An exploratory study on the use of bamboo pieces for trapping entire colonies of arboreal ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 47:215–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW, Cook SC, Snelling RR, Chua TH (2003) Explaining the abundance of ants in lowland tropical rainforest canopies. Science 300:969–972

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW, Arias JA, Mann J (2006) An experimental study of bamboo ants in western Amazonia. Insect Soc 53:108–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delabie JH (2001) Trophobioses between Formicidae and Hemiptera (Sternorrhyncha and Auchenorrhyncha): an overview. Neotropical Entomol 30:501–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delabie JHC, Benton FP, Medeiros MA (1991) La polydomie de Formicidae arboricoles dans les cacaoyères du Brésil: optimisation de l’occupation de l’espace ou stratégie défensive? Act Colloq Insectes S 7:173–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorow WHO, Maschwitz U (1990) The arachne-group of Polyrhachis (Formicidae, Formicinae): weaver ants cultivating Homoptera on bamboo. Insect Soc 37:73–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagundes R, Terra G, Ribeiro SP, Majer JD (2011) O Bambu Merostachys fischeriana (Bambusoideae: Bambuseae) como Habitat para Formigas de Floresta Tropical Montana. Neotropical Entomol 39:906–911

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagundes R, Anjos DV, Carvalho R, Del-Claro K (2015) Availability of food and nesting-sites as regulatory mechanisms for the recovery of ant diversity after fire disturbance. Sociobiology 62:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca CR (1993) Nesting space limits colony size of the plant–ant Pseudomyrmex concolor. Oikos 67:473–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca CR, Benson WW (2003) Ontogenetic succession in Amazonian ant trees. Oikos 102:407–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler HG, Medeiros MA, Delabie JHC (1996) Carton nest allometry and spatial patterning of the arboreal ant Azteca chartifex spiriti (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Rev Bras Entomol 40:337–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jolivet P (1996) Ants and plants, an example of coevolution. Backhuys, Leiden

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohout RJ (1988) A new species of Polyrhachis (Polyrhachis) from Papua New Guinea with a review of the New Guinean and Australian species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). Mem Qld Mus 25:417–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Leite GA, Pinheiro RT, Marcelino DG, Figueira JEC, Delabie JHC (2013) Foraging behavior of Kaempfer’s woodpecker (Celeus obrieni), a bamboo specialist. Condor 115:221–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longino JT, Nadkarni NM (1990) A comparison of ground and canopy leaf litter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a neotropical montane forest. Psyche J Entomol 97:81–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch JF (1981) Seasonal, successional, and vertical segregation in a Maryland ant community. Oikos 1:183–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majer JD, Delabie JH, Smith MR (1994) Arboreal ant community patterns in Brazilian cocoa farms. Biotropica 26:73–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philpott SM (2005) Trait-mediated effects of parasitic phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) on ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) competition and resource access in coffee agro-ecosystems. Environ Entomol 34:1089–1094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell S (2008) Ecological specialization and the evolution of a specialized caste in Cephalotes ants. Funct Ecol 22:902–911

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell S (2009) How ecology shapes caste evolution: linking resource use, morphology, performance and fitness in a superorganism. J Evol Biol 22:1004–1013

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Powell S, Costa AN, Lopes CT, Vasconcelos HL (2011) Canopy connectivity and the availability of diverse nesting resources affect species coexistence in arboreal ants. J Anim Ecol 80:352–360

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silva JMC, Bates JM (2002) Biogeographic patterns and conservation in the South American Cerrado. Bioscience 52:225–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva RR, Brandão CR, Silvestre R (2004) Similarity between Cerrado localities in central and southeastern Brazil based on the dry season bait visitors ant fauna. Stud Neotropical Fauna E 39:191–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvestre R, Brandão CRF, Silva RR (2003) Grupos funcionales de hormigas: el caso de los gremios del Cerrado, Brasil. In: Fernandéz F (ed) Introducción a las hormigas de la Región Neotropical. Instituto Humboldt, Bogotá, pp 113–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasconcelos HL, Vilhena J (2006) Species turnover and vertical partitioning of ant assemblages in the Brazilian Amazon: a comparison of forests and savannas. Biotropica 38:100–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yanoviak SP, Kaspari M (2000) Community structure and the habitat templet: ants in the tropical forest canopy litter. Oikos 89:259–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank UFT for logistical and financial support. We thank Katherine Noble and Donald H. Feener for the comments that significantly improved the paper. CAPES and UFOP supports RF. JHCD acknowledges his research Grant by CNPq.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ecótonos, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Palmas, Brazil

    F. V. Arruda & D. G. Marcelino

  2. Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Morrinhos, Brazil

    M. A. Pesquero

  3. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil

    G. A. Leite

  4. Laboratório de Mirmecologia, CEPLAC/CEPEC, Itabuna, Brazil

    J. H. C. Delabie

  5. Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Brazil

    J. H. C. Delabie

  6. Departamento de Biodiversidade Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, 35400-000, Brazil

    R. Fagundes

Authors
  1. F. V. Arruda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. A. Pesquero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. G. Marcelino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. A. Leite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. H. C. Delabie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. R. Fagundes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Fagundes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Arruda, F.V., Pesquero, M.A., Marcelino, D.G. et al. Size and condition of bamboo as structural factors behind the vertical stratification of the bamboo-nesting ant community. Insect. Soc. 63, 99–107 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-015-0440-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-015-0440-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation