Abstract
Naturally fragmented landscapes are adequate systems for evaluating patterns and mechanisms that determine species distribution without confounding effects of anthropogenic fragmentation and habitat loss. We aimed to evaluate an ant metacommunity’s spatiotemporal patterns in montane forest islands amid a grassland-dominated matrix. We assessed these patterns by deconstructing the ant metacommunity into forest-dependent and habitat generalist species. We sampled twice a year (summer and winter) over 2 years (2014 and 2015), using soil and arboreal pitfall traps, in fourteen forest islands (varying in size, shape, and connectivity) in the Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve, Brazil. We evaluated the relationship between ant species richness, composition (β-diversity), and predictor variables of forest island structure (canopy cover and understory density) and landscape structure (forest amount, number of forest islands, and shape). We sampled 99 ant species, 66.7% of which were classified as forest-dependent and 33.3% as habitat generalist species. We found that ant β-diversity was higher in space than in time, and that species composition variation in time (temporal β-diversity) differed between ant species groups. Both ant groups responded differently to forest island and landscape structure characteristics. Landscape structure seems to act as a spatial filter and the forest islands’ local characteristics as an environmental filter, which jointly determine the local and regional diversity. We demonstrate the importance that forest archipelagos pose to ant metacommunity’s structure and dynamics in montane tropical regions. Mountaintop conservation and management strategies must consider the forest island archipelago to maintain the biodiversity and the functioning of these systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams BJ, Schnitzer SA, Yanoviak SP (2017) Trees as islands: canopy ant species richness increases with the size of liana-free trees in a Neotropical forest. Ecography 40:1067–1075. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02608
Ahuatzin DA, Corro EJ, Jaimes AA, Valenzuela González JE, Feitosa RM, Ribeiro MC, Acosta JCL, Coates R, Dáttilo W (2019) Forest cover drives leaf litter ant diversity in primary rainforest remnants within human-modified tropical landscapes. Biodivers Conserv 28:1091–1107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01712-z
Alvares CA, Stape JL, Sentelhas PC, Gonçalves JLM, Sparovek G (2013) Köppen's climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorol Z 22:711–728. https://doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2013/0507
Andersen AN (1986) Diversity, seasonality and community organization of ants at adjacent heath and woodland sites in Southeastern Australia. Aust J Zool 34:53–64. https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO9860053
Andersen AN (2019) Responses of ant communities to disturbance: five principles for understanding the disturbance dynamics of a globally dominant faunal group. J Anim Ecol 88:350–362. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12907
Andersen AN, Hoffmann BD, Müller WJ, Griffiths AD (2002) Using ants as bioindicators in land management: simplifying assessment of ant community responses. J Appl Ecol 39:8–17. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2664.2002.00704.x
Anderson MJ, Crist TO, Chase JM et al (2011) Navigating the multiple meanings of beta diversity: a roadmap for the practicing ecologist. Ecol Lett 14:19–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01552.x
Baccaro FB, Feitosa RM, Fernández F, Fernandes IO, Izzo TJ, de Souza JLP, Solar RRC (2015) Guia para os gêneros de formigas do Brasil. Editora INPA, Manaus
Baselga A (2010) Partitioning the turnover and nestedness components of beta diversity. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 19:134–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2009.00490.x
Baselga A (2012) The relationship between species replacement, dissimilarity derived from nestedness, and nestedness. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 21:1223–1232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00756.x
Baselga A, Orme CDL (2012) betapart: an R package for the study of beta diversity. Methods Ecol Evol 3:808–812. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2012.00224.x
Bestelmeyer BT, Agosti D, Alonso LE, Brandão CRF, Brown WL, Delabie JHC, Silvestre R (2000) Field techniques for the study of ground-dwelling ants: an overview, description, and evaluation. In: Agosti D, Majer JD, Alonso LE, Schultz TR (eds) Ants: Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 122–144
Calazans EG, Costa FV, Cristiano MP, Cardoso DC (2020) Daily dynamics of an ant community in a mountaintop ecosystem. Environ Entomol 49:383–390. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa011
Castro FS, da Silva PG, Solar R, Fernandes GW, Neves FS (2020) Environmental drivers of taxonomic and functional diversity of ant communities in a tropical mountain. Insect Conserv Diver 13:393–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12415
Chao A, Jost L (2012) Coverage-based rarefaction and extrapolation: standardizing samples by completeness rather than size. Ecology 93:2533–2547. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1952.1
Coelho MS, Fernandes GW, Pacheco P, Diniz V, Meireles A, Santos RM (2016) Archipelago of montane forests surrounded by rupestrian grasslands: new insights and perspectives. In: Fernandes GW (ed) Ecology and conservation of mountaintop grasslands in Brazil. Springer, New York, pp 129–156
Coelho MS, Carlos PP, Pinto VD, Meireles A, Negreiros D, Morellato LPC, Fernandes GW (2018a) Connection between tree functional traits and environmental parameters in an archipelago of montane forests surrounded by rupestrian grasslands. Flora 238:51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2017.04.003
Coelho MS, Neves FS, Perillo LN, Morellato LPC, Fernandes GW (2018b) Forest archipelagos: a natural model of metacommunity under the threat of fire. Flora 238:244–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2017.03.013
R Core Team (2020) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
Corro EJ, Ahuatzin DA, Jaimes AA, Favila ME, Ribeiro MC, López-Acosta JC, Dáttilo W (2019) Forest cover and landscape heterogeneity shape ant–plant co-occurrence networks in human-dominated tropical rainforests. Landsc Ecol 34:93–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0747-4
Costa FV, Mello R, Lana TC, Neves FS (2015) Ant fauna in megadiverse mountains: a checklist for the rocky grasslands. Sociobiology 62:228–245. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v62i2.228-245
Crawley MJ (2013) The R Book. Wiley, Chichester
Cuissi RG, Lasmar CJ, Moretti TS, Schmidt FA, Fernandes WD, Falleiros AB, Schoereder JH, Ribas CR (2015) Ant community in natural fragments of the Brazilian wetland: species–area relation and isolation. J Insect Conserv 19:531–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9774-5
da Silva PG, Hernández MIM (2014) Local and regional effects on community structure of dung beetles in a mainland-island scenario. PLoS One 9:e111883. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111883
da Silva PG, Hernández MIM (2015) Scale-dependence of processes structuring dung beetle metacommunities using functional diversity and community deconstruction approaches. PLoS One 10:e0123030. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123030
da Silva PG, Nunes CA, Ferreira LF, Braga RF, Beiroz W, Perillo LN, Solar RRC, de Siqueira Neves F (2019) Patch and landscape effects on forest-dependent dung beetles are masked by matrix-tolerant dung beetles in a mountaintop rainforest archipelago. Sci Total Environ 651:1321–1331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.195
da Silva PG, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Bogoni JA, Heino J (2021) Editorial: Spatio-temporal dynamics of metacommunities - implications for conservation and management. Front Ecol Evol 9:670212. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.670212
Dunn RR, Sanders NJ, Fitzpatrick MC et al (2007) Global ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) biodiversity and biogeography - a new database and its possibilities. Myrmecol News 10:77–83
Ellwood MDF, Blüthgen N, Fayle TM, Foster WA, Menzel F (2016) Competition can lead to unexpected patterns in tropical ant communities. Acta Oecol 75:24–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2016.06.001
Fahrig L (2013) Rethinking patch size and isolation effects: the habitat amount hypothesis. J Biogeogr 40:1649–1663. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12130
Fahrig L (2017) Ecological responses to habitat fragmentation per se. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 48:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022612
Fahrig L, Baudry J, Brotons L, Burel FG, Crist TO, Fuller RJ, Sirami C, Siriwardena GM, Martin JL (2011) Functional landscape heterogeneity and animal biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Ecol Lett 14:101–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01559.x
Fernandes GW (2016) Ecology and conservation of mountaintop grasslands in Brazil. Springer, Cham
Fernandes GW, Arantes-Garcia L, Barbosa M, Barbosa NPU, Batista EKL, Beiroz W, Resende FM, Abrahão A, Almada ED, Alves E, Alves NJ, Angrisano P, Arista M, Arroyo J, Arruda AJ, Bahia TO, Braga L, Brito L, Callisto M, Caminha-Paiva D, Carvalho M, Conceição AA, Costa LN, Cruz A, Cunha-Blum J, Dagevos J, Dias BFS, Pinto VD, Dirzo R, Domingos DQ, Echternacht L, Fernandes S, Figueira JEC, Fiorini CF, Giulietti AM, Gomes A, Gomes VM, Gontijo B, Goulart F, Guerra TJ, Junqueira PA, Lima-Santos D, Marques J, Meira-Neto J, Miola DTB, Morellato LPC, Negreiros D, Neire E, Neves AC, Neves FS, Novais S, Oki Y, Oliveira E, Oliveira RS, Pivari MO, Junior EP, Ranieri BD, Ribas RP, Scariot A, Schaefer CE, Sena L, da Silva PG, Siqueira PR, Soares NC, Soares-Filho B, Solar R, Tabarelli M, Vasconcellos R, Vilela E, Silveira FAO (2020) Biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Campo Rupestre: a road map for the sustainability of the hottest Brazilian biodiversity hotspot. Perspect Ecol Conserv 18:213–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2020.10.004
Ferrari LT, Schaefer CEGR, Fernandes RBA, Mendonça BAF, Gjorup DF, Corrêa GR, Senra EO (2016) Thermic and hydric dynamics of ironstone (Canga) and quartzite rupestrian grasslands in the quadrilátero ferrífero: the ecological importance of water. In: F G (ed) Ecology and Conservation of Mountaintop Grasslands in Brazil. Springer, Cham, pp 71–86
Frazer G, Canham C, Lertzman K (1999) Gap Light Analyzer (GLA): Imaging software to extract canopy structure and gap light transmission indices from true-colour fisheye photographs. Users Manual and Program Documentation. http://rem-main.rem.sfu.ca/downloads/Forestry/GLAV2UsersManual.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2017
Gibb H, Stoklosa J, Warton DI, Brown AM, Andrew NR, Cunningham SA (2015) Does morphology predict trophic position and habitat use of ant species and assemblages? Oecologia 177:519–531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3101-9
Graham CH, Fine PVA (2008) Phylogenetic beta diversity: linking ecological and evolutionary processes across space in time. Ecol Lett 11:1265–1277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01256.x
Gray REJ, Ewers RM, Boyle MJW, Chung AYC, Gill RJ (2018) Effect of tropical forest disturbance on the competitive interactions within a diverse ant community. Sci Rep 8:5131. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23272-y
Haddad NM, Gonzalez A, Brudvig LA, Burt MA, Levey DJ, Damschen EI (2017) Experimental evidence does not support the habitat amount hypothesis. Ecography 40:48–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02535
Haila Y (2002) A conceptual genealogy of fragmentation research: from island biogeography to landscape ecology. Ecol Appl 12:321–334. https://doi.org/10.2307/3060944
Hopper SD, Lambers H, Silveira FAO, Fiedler PL (2021) OCBIL theory examined: reassessing evolution, ecology and conservation in the world’s ancient, climatically buffered and infertile landscapes. Biol J Linn Soc 133:266–296. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa213
Hsieh TC, Ma KH, Chao A, McInerny G (2016) iNEXT: an R package for rarefaction and extrapolation of species diversity (Hill numbers). Methods Ecol Evol 7:1451–1456. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12613
Itescu Y (2018) Are island-like systems biologically similar to islands? A review of the evidence. Ecography 42:1298–1314. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03951
Kaspari M, Yuan M, Alonso L (2003) Spatial grain and the causes of regional diversity gradients in ants. Am Nat 161:459–477. https://doi.org/10.1086/367906
Klimes P, Idigel C, Rimandai M, Fayle TM, Janda M, Weiblen GD, Novotny V (2012) Why are there more arboreal ant species in primary than in secondary tropical forests? J Anim Ecol 81:1103–1112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2012.02002.x
Kraft NJB, Adler PB, Godoy O, James EC, Fuller S, Levine JM (2015) Community assembly, coexistence and the environmental filtering metaphor. Funct Ecol 29:592–599. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12345
Le Stradic S, Buisson E, Fernandes GW (2015) Vegetation composition and structure of some Neotropical mountain grasslands in Brazil. J Mt Sci 12:864–877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-013-2866-3
Leal IR, Filgueiras BKC, Gomes JP, Iannuzzi L, Andersen AN (2012) Effects of habitat fragmentation on ant richness and functional composition in Brazilian Atlantic forest. Biodivers Conserv 21:1687–1701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0271-9
Leibold MA, Holyoak M, Mouquet N, Amarasekare P, Chase JM, Hoopes MF, Holt RD, Shurin JB, Law R, Tilman D, Loreau M, Gonzalez A (2004) The metacommunity concept: a framework for multi-scale community ecology. Ecol Lett 7:601–613. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00608.x
Levy R (1995) Identification Guide To the Ant Genera of the World. Syst Entomol 20:372–372. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1995.tb00102.x
Lozano-Zambrano FH, Ulloa-Chacón P, Armbrecht I (2009) Hormigas: relaciones especies-área en fragmentos de bosque seco tropical. Neotrop Entomol 38:44–54. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-566X2009000100004
MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Mayor JR, Sanders NJ, Classen AT, Bardgett RD, Clément JC, Fajardo A, Lavorel S, Sundqvist MK, Bahn M, Chisholm C, Cieraad E, Gedalof Z’, Grigulis K, Kudo G, Oberski DL, Wardle DA (2017) Elevation alters ecosystem properties across temperate treelines globally. Nature 542:91–95. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21027
Montgomery GA, Belitz MW, Guralnick RP, Tingley MW (2021) Standards and best practices for monitoring and benchmarking insects. Front Ecol Evol 8:579193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.579193
Mouquet N, Carr MC, Cottenie K (2005) The world is patchy and heterogeneous! Trade-off and source-sink dynamics in competitive metacommunities. In: Holyoak M, Leibold MA, Holt RD (eds) Metacommunities: spatial dynamics and ecological communities. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 237–262
Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–845. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501
Nassar JM, Rodríguez JP, Sánchez-Azofeifa A, Garvin T, Quesada M (2008) Manual of methods: human, ecological and biophysical dimensions of tropical dry forests. Gráficas Lauki, Caracas
Neves FS, Queiroz-Dantas KS, da Rocha WD, Delabie JHC (2013) Ants of three adjacent habitats of a transition region between the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes: the effects of heterogeneity and variation in canopy cover. Neotrop Entomol 42:258–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-013-0123-7
Neves FS, da Silva PG, Solar R et al (2021a) Habitat generalists drive nestedness in a tropical mountaintop insect metacommunity. Biol J Linn Soc 133:577–586. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa059
Neves FS, Antoniazzi R, Camarota F, Pacelhe FT, Powell S (2021b) Spatiotemporal dynamics of the ant community in a dry forest differ by vertical strata but not by successional stages. Biotropica 53:372–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12918
Nobis M, Hunziker U (2005) Automatic thresholding for hemispherical canopy-photographs based on edge detection. Agric For Meteorol 128:243–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2004.10.002
Noroozi J, Talebi A, Doostmohammadi M, Rumpf SB, Linder HP, Schneeweiss GM (2018) Hotspots within a global biodiversity hotspot - areas of endemism are associated with high mountain ranges. Sci Rep 8:10345. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28504-9
Nunes CA, Castro FS, Brant HSC, Powell S, Solar R, Fernandes GW, Neves FS (2020) High temporal beta diversity in an ant metacommunity, with increasing temporal functional replacement along the elevational gradient. Front Ecol Evol 8:571439. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.571439
Ohyama L, Holt RD, Matthews TJ, Lucky A (2021) The species–area relationship in ant ecology. J Biogeogr. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14149
Padial AA, Ceschin F, Declerck SA et al (2014) Dispersal ability determines the role of environmental, spatial and temporal drivers of metacommunity structure. PLoS One 9:e111227. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111227
Palmeirim AF, Benchimol M, Vieira MV, Peres CA (2018) Small mammal responses to Amazonian forest islands are modulated by their forest dependence. Oecologia 187:191–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4114-6
Pandit SN, Kolasa J, Cottenie K (2009) Contrasts between habitat generalists and specialists: an empirical extension to the basic metacommunity framework. Ecology 90:2253–2262. https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0851.1
Parr CL, Dunn RR, Sanders NJ, Weiser MD, Photakis M, Bishop TR, Fitzpatrick MC, Arnan X, Baccaro F, Brandão CRF, Chick L, Donoso DA, Fayle TM, Gómez C, Grossman B, Munyai TC, Pacheco R, Retana J, Robinson A, Sagata K, Silva RR, Tista M, Vasconcelos H, Yates M, Gibb H (2017) GlobalAnts: a new database on the geography of ant traits (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insect Conserv Diver 10:5–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12211
Patiño J, Whittaker RJ, Borges PAV, Fernández-Palacios JM, Ah-Peng C, Araújo MB, Ávila SP, Cardoso P, Cornuault J, de Boer EJ, de Nascimento L, Gil A, González-Castro A, Gruner DS, Heleno R, Hortal J, Illera JC, Kaiser-Bunbury CN, Matthews TJ, Papadopoulou A, Pettorelli N, Price JP, Santos AMC, Steinbauer MJ, Triantis KA, Valente L, Vargas P, Weigelt P, Emerson BC (2017) A roadmap for island biology: 50 fundamental questions after 50 years of The Theory of Island Biogeography. J Biogeogr 44:963–983. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12986
Pereira GCN, Coelho MS, Beirão MDV, Braga RF, Fernandes GW (2017) Diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a mountaintop archipelago of rainforest. PLoS One 12:e0180007. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180007
Perillo LN, Barbosa NPU, Solar RRC, Neves FS (2020) Patterns of diversity in a metacommunity of bees and wasps of relictual mountainous forest fragments. J Insect Conserv 24:17–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-019-00194-2
Philpott SM, Foster PF (2005) Nest-site limitation in coffee agroecosystems: artificial nests maintain diversity of arboreal ants. Ecol Appl 15:1478–1485. https://doi.org/10.1890/04-1496
Record S, Voelker NM, Zarnetske PL, Wisnoski NI, Tonkin JD, Swan C, Marazzi L, Lany N, Lamy T, Compagnoni A, Castorani MCN, Andrade R, Sokol ER (2021) Novel insights to be gained from applying metacommunity theory to long-term, spatially replicated biodiversity data. Front Ecol Evol 8:612794. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.612794
Regolin AL, Oliveira-Santos LG, Ribeiro MC, Bailey LL (2021) Habitat quality, not habitat amount, drives mammalian habitat use in the Brazilian Pantanal. Landsc Ecol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01280-0
Ribas CR, Schoereder JH, Pic M, Soares SM (2003) Tree heterogeneity, resource availability, and larger scale processes regulating arboreal ant species richness. Austral Ecol 28:305–314. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01290.x
Rossetti MR, Tscharntke T, Aguilar R, Batáry P (2017) Responses of insect herbivores and herbivory to habitat fragmentation: a hierarchical meta-analysis. Ecol Lett 20:264–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12723
Rumpf SB, Hülber K, Klonner G, Moser D, Schütz M, Wessely J, Willner W, Zimmermann NE, Dullinger S (2018) Range dynamics of mountain plants decrease with elevation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA Biol Sci 115:1848–1853. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713936115
Sánchez-Bayo F, Wyckhuys KAG (2019) Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: a review of its drivers. Biol Conserv 232:8–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020
Schoereder JH, Sobrinho TG, Ribas CR, Campos RBF (2004) Colonization and extinction of ant communities in a fragmented landscape. Austral Ecol 29:391–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2004.01378.x
Silveira FAO, Negreiros D, Barbosa NPU, Buisson E, Carmo FF, Carstensen DW, Conceição AA, Cornelissen TG, Echternacht L, Fernandes GW, Garcia QS, Guerra TJ, Jacobi CM, Lemos-Filho JP, le Stradic S, Morellato LPC, Neves FS, Oliveira RS, Schaefer CE, Viana PL, Lambers H (2016) Ecology and evolution of plant diversity in the endangered campo rupestre: a neglected conservation priority. Plant Soil 406:129–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2637-8
Silveira FAO, Barbosa M, Beiroz W, Callisto M, Macedo DR, Morellato LPC, Neves FS, Nunes YRF, Solar RR, Fernandes GW (2019) Tropical mountains as natural laboratories to study global changes: a long-term ecological research project in a megadiverse biodiversity hotspot. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 38:64–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2019.04.001
Soininen J, McDonald R, Hillebrand H (2007) The distance decay of similarity in ecological communities. Ecography 30:3–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0906-7590.2007.04817.x
Soininen J, Heino J, Wang J (2018) A meta-analysis of nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity across organisms and ecosystems. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 27:96–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12660
Spiesman BJ, Cumming GS (2008) Communities in context: the influences of multiscale environmental variation on local ant community structure. Landsc Ecol 23:313–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-007-9186-3
Streher AS, Sobreiro JFF, Morellato LPC, Silva TSF (2017) Land surface phenology in the tropics: the role of climate and topography in a snow-free mountain. Ecosystems 20:1436–1453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0123-2
Tonhasca A Jr, Albuquerque GS, Blackmer JL (2003) Dispersal of euglossine bees between fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. J Trop Ecol 19:99–102. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467403003122
Vasconcelos HL, Bruna EM (2012) Arthropod responses to the experimental isolation of Amazonian forest fragments. Zoologia 29:515–530. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-46702012000600003
Vasconcelos HL, Vilhena JMS (2006) Species turnover and vertical partitioning of ant assemblages in the Brazilian Amazon: a comparison of forests and savannas. Biotropica 38:100–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00113.x
Vasconcelos HL, Vilhena JMS, Magnusson WE, Albernaz ALKM (2006) Long-term effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian ant communities. J Biogeogr 33:1348–1356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01516.x
Vasconcelos HL, Maravalhas JB, Feitosa RM, Pacheco R, Neves KC, Andersen AN (2018) Neotropical savanna ants show a reversed latitudinal gradient of species richness, with climatic drivers reflecting the forest origin of the fauna. J Biogeogr 45:248–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13113
Wintle BA, Kujala H, Whitehead A, Cameron A, Veloz S, Kukkala A, Moilanen A, Gordon A, Lentini PE, Cadenhead NCR, Bekessy SA (2019) Global synthesis of conservation studies reveals the importance of small habitat patches for biodiversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA Biol Sci 116:909–914. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813051115
Acknowledgements
We would like to highlight the invaluable help of the following students for assistance with field work: Luiz Eduardo Macedo Reis, Daniela Melo, Luiz Fernando Ferreira, Geanne Pereira, Heron Hilário, Caio Silveira Marques, and Thaís Silva Tavares. We also thank Flávio Camarota, Scott Powel (Cephalotes), and Rodrigo Feitosa for ant identification. PGdS thanks the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for postdoctoral grant (PNPD 88882.316025/2019-01, Code 001). LNP thanks DAAD for the postdoctoral grant (BIOBRAS Project). Thanks also go to Reserva Vellozia, Instituto Chico Mendes para Biodiversidade (ICMBio), Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó and GSG for logistical support. We also thank the editor and reviewers for their valuable suggestions, and Flávio Camarota for English revision.
Funding
We are thankful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (PELD - 441515/2016-9), for funding the long-term ecological research “PELD Campos Rupestres da Serra do Cipó” and to Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil (CRA - APQ-00311-15) for providing additional funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
FdSN formulated the concept and design. HSCB, FSdC, and LNP carried out data collection. HSCB and PGdS analyzed the data and lead the writing. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Edited by Heraldo Vasconcelos
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 395 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brant, H.S.C., da Silva, P.G., de Castro, F.S. et al. Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ant Metacommunity in a Montane Forest Archipelago. Neotrop Entomol 50, 886–898 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-021-00901-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-021-00901-2