Abstract
Ant community structure in natural and anthropogenic ecosystems depends on the combination of several factors not easy to elucidate according to the complexity of habitat structures and anthropogenic disturbances. We investigated the influence of tree distribution pattern on the spatial distribution of dominant ant species, and the spatial relationship between dominant and associated ant species in secondary forest, cocoa farms, and palm groves at Mfou around Yaoundé city. Nine plots of 30 × 30 m each were set up around the study area including three each from every habitat type. Each plot was mapped and the Cartesian coordinated of each tree was recorded. Ants were collected on the trees using a pitfall trap and visual catch. The spatial distribution pattern of the trees and numerical dominant species were analyzed using Besag’s function and spatial relationship between numerical dominant and associated ant species with pair correlation function. Trees distribution fits random models in cocoa farms and secondary forests, while in palm groves they fit regular models. Numerical dominant species also fit the same distribution pattern according to the distribution of the trees in the corresponding habitat. Spatial correlation analysis showed that the establishment of a positive or negative relationship between dominant and associated ant species depends on the distance which separates the nest of the colonies to the foraging area. Around the nest of the colonies, dominant ant species repulse all other ant species despite their territorial defensive behavior and created a safety cord intensively protected. Over this perimeter, the workers invest more in food searching than in the defense of territory and favor the establishment of a positive relationship.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agosti, D., & Alonso, L. E. (2000). The ALL protocol Ants. In D. Agosti, J. D. Majer, L. E. Alonso, & T. R. Schultz (Eds.), Ant: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity (pp. 204–214s). Washington: Smithonian Press.
Arnan, X., Andersen, A., Gibb, H., et al. (2018). Dominance-diversity relationships in ant communities differ with invasion. Global Change Biology, 24, 4614–4625.
Baddeley, A. (2008). Analysing spatial point patterns in R spatstat version 1.14–5. s.l., CSIRO and University of Western Australia.
Beilhe, L. B., Piou, C., Tadu, Z., & Babin, R. (2018). Identifying ant-mirid spatial interactions to improve biological control in cacao-based agroforestry system. Environmental Entomology, 47, 551–558.
Bizumungu, G., & Majer, J. D. (2019). The distribution of ants in a Rwandan coffee plantation and their potential to control pests. African Entomology, 27, 159–166.
Bolton, B. (1994). Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Havard University Press.
Davidson, D. W. (1997). The role of resource imbalances in the evolutionary ecology of tropical arboreal ants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 61, 153–181.
Davidson, D. W. (1998). Resource discovery versus resource domination in ants: A functional mechanism for breaking the trade-off. Ecological Entomology, 23, 484–490.
Davidson, D. W., Lessard, J. P., Bernau, C. R., & Cook, S. C. (2007). The tropical ant mosaic in a primary Bornean rain forest. Biotropica, 39, 468–475.
Dejean, A., Corbara, B., & Orivel, J. (1999). The arboreal ant mosaic in two atlantic rain forest. Selbyana, 20(1), 403–421.
Dejean, A. (2000). Ant protection (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of two pioneer plant species against the variagated locust. Sociobiology, 36, 217–226.
Dejean, A., Azémar, F., Céréghino, R., Leponce, M., Corbara, B., Orivel, J., & Compin, A. (2016). The dynamics of ant mosaics in tropical rainforests characterized using the self-organizing map algorithm. Insect Science, 23, 630–637.
Delabie, J. H. C. (2001). Les trophobioses entre Formicidae et Hemiptera Sternorrhyncha et Auchenorrhyncha. Memoire de HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches), Université de Paris 13.
Djieto-Lordon, C., & Dejean, A. (1999). Innate attraction supplants experience during host plant selection in an obligate plant-ant. Behavioral Processes, 46, 181–187.
Fisher, B. L., & Bolton, B. (2016). Ants of Africa and Madagascar. University of California Press.
Hölldobler, B., & Wilson, E. D. (1990). The Ants. The Belknap of Havard University Press.
Jackson, D. A. (1984). Ant distribution patterns in a Cameroonian cocoa plantation: Investigation of the ant mosaic hypothesis. Oecologia, 62, 318–324.
Leston, D. (1971). Ants, capsids and swollen shoot in Ghana: Interactions and the implication for pest control. In Proceeding of the 3rd international Cocoa research conference (pp. 205–221). Ghana.
Leston, D. (1972). The ant mosaic: A fundamental property of cocoa farms. In Proceeding of the 4th international Cocoa conference. Trinidad (pp. 570–581).
Majer, J. D. (1972). The ant mosaic in Ghana cocoa farm. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 62, 151–160.
Majer, J. D. (1994). Introduction of ants as potential biological control agents, with particular reference to cocoa. Harvest, 16, 1–4.
Majer, J. D., Delabie, J. H. C., & Smith, M. R. B. (1994). Arboreal ant community patterns in Brazilian cocoa farms. Biotropica, 26, 73–83.
Ribas, C. R., & Schoereder, J. H. (2002). Are all ant mosaics caused by competition? Oecologia, 131, 606–611.
Suchel, J. B. (1988). Les régions climatiques du Cameroun. Les climats du Cameroun. Thèse de Doctorat d'Etat, Université de Saint-Etienne (France) (4 Vols.).
Tadu, Z., Babin, R., Aléné, D. C., Messop Youbi, E. B., Yede, D. W., & Djieto-Lordon, C. (2019). Ant assemblage structure on cocoa trees in smallholder farms in the Centre Region of Cameroon. African Journal of Ecology, 00, 1–11.
Tadu, Z., Bagny Beilhe, L., Aléné, D. C., & Djiéto-Lordon, C. (2019). Recruitment rate of nestmate in six tropical arboreal ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 32, 252–266.
Tadu, Z., Djieto-Lordon, C., Yede, M.-Y., Aléné, D. C., Fomena, A., & Babin, R. (2014). Ant mosaics in cocoa agroforestry systems of Southern Cameroon: Influence of shade on occurrence and spatial distribution of dominants ants. Agroforestry Systems, 88, 1067–1079.
Taylor, B. (2010). The ants of (Sub- Saharan African ) Hymenoptera: Formicidae. In W. Grazingfield, Nottingham, 11, NG11 7FN, U.K. Visiting Academic in the Department of Life Science, University of Nottingham.
Acknowledgements
We thank all population of the Mfou suburban agglomeration for their collaboration during fieldwork. We are particularly indebted to locals who set aside their plantations for this study. The authors did not receive support from any organization, though contributions from the coauthors made the work possible.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendices
Appendix 1: Bivariate analysis showing the spatial relationship between dominant and associated ant species in the cocoa farm at Mfou suburban agglomeration
r is the radius in meters, interpreted as the radius of influence of dominant ant species on the associated ant species. Values g(r) < 1 suggest inhibition between species; values greater than 1 suggest clustering and g(r) = 0 suggest neutrality.
Appendix 2: Bivariate analysis showing the spatial relationship between dominant and associated ant species in secondary forest at Mfou suburban agglomeration
r is the radius in meters, interpreted as the radius of influence of dominant ant species on the associated ant species. Values g(r) < 1 suggest inhibition between both species; values greater than 1 suggest clustering and g(r) = 0 suggest neutrality.
Appendix 3: Bivariate analysis showing the spatial relationship between dominant and associated ant species in palm oil plantation at Mfou suburban agglomeration
r is the radius in meters, interpreted as the radius of influence of dominant ant species on the associated ant species. Values g(r) < 1 suggest inhibition between both species; values greater than 1 suggest clustering and g(r) = 0 suggest neutrality.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zephirin, T., Jean-Pierre, G., Edith-Blandine, MY. et al. Spatial pattern in arboreal ant community at Mfou suburban agglomeration around Yaoundé city, Cameroon. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 22, 225–248 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-021-00051-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-021-00051-w