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Ants of the Caatinga: Diversity, Biogeography, and Functional Responses to Anthropogenic Disturbance and Climate Change

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Caatinga

Abstract

Despite the outstanding diversity and ecological relevance of ants in most terrestrial ecosystems, current knowledge of the ants of the Caatinga is still incipient. This chapter offers an overview covering the diversity, taxonomy, biogeography, and functional composition of the Caatinga ant fauna, and a synthesis on ant response to chronic anthropogenic disturbance and increased aridity. We compiled a database consisting of 572 presence–absence ant records and 276 ant species from 37 localities in the Caatinga. As expected, most of the Caatinga has not been intensively sampled for ants, with the intensive sampling that has been conducted revealing high rates of species turnover across localities. Most ant species recorded in the Caatinga are widely distributed in other biomes, especially in Cerrado, and few species can be considered endemic to the Caatinga. Thus, the Caatinga ant fauna appears to represent an impoverished subset of the Cerrado’s fauna. Such a reduced endemism and the occurrence of a highly depauperate ant fauna at a regional level contrast to the diversity patterns exhibited by the Caatinga flora and other faunal groups. Significant changes in ant taxonomic and functional composition in response to human disturbance are observed, with a predictable winner–loser replacement. Disturbance winners consist of generalist species exhibiting wide environmental tolerances and those inhabiting open habitats (Opportunists and Dominant Dolichoderinae). Highly specialized species are disturbance losers (Specialist predators). Aridity also affects both species occurrence and functional-group composition of local assemblages. Since several ant species and functional groups are sensitive to increasing disturbance and aridity, ant-mediated ecological services are already threatened in the Caatinga biota.

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Acknowledgements

Our studies on Caatinga ants have been supported by the ‘Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico’ (CNPq, processes: DCR 300582/1998-6, Universal 477290/2009-4 and 470480/2013-0, PELD 403770/2012-2, CNPQ-DFG 490450/2013-0), ‘Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior’ (CAPES, processes: Estágio Sênior 2009/09-9 and 2411-14-8, PVE 88881.030482/2013-01), and ‘Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco’ (FACEPE, processes: APQ 0140-2.05/08 and 0738-2.05/12, PRONEX 0138-2.05/14). IRL thanks CNPq for productivity grants (processes: 305970/2004-6, 304346/2007-1, 302574/2010-7, 305611/2014-3) and Xavier Arnan for post-doctorate grants (processes: 167533/2013-4 and 165623/2015-2). We would like to thank the Estação de Agricultura Irrigada de Parnamirim and Centro de Pesquisas Ambientais do Nordeste (CEPAN) for logistical support and the landowners for giving us permission to work on their properties in the Xingó region, Parnamirim municipality, and Catimbau region. Finally, we also thank all our students and colleagues who have assisted with field work and participated in fruitful discussions: Birte M. Albreicht, Carlos H. F. Silva, Elâine M. S. Ribeiro, Felipe F. S. Siqueira, Julia E. Backé, Kátia F. Rito, Laura Carolina Leal, Kelaine Demetrio, Marcelo Tabarelli, Marcos V. Meiado, Rainer Wirth, and Talita Câmara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Inara R. Leal

  2. Departamento de Fitotecnia e Ciências Ambientais, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Areia, PB, Brazil

    José Domingos Ribeiro-Neto

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil

    José Domingos Ribeiro-Neto, Xavier Arnan & Fernanda M. P. Oliveira

  4. CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, ES-08193, Catalunya, Spain

    Xavier Arnan

  5. Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT, Australia

    Gabriela B. Arcoverde & Alan N. Andersen

  6. Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Rodrigo M. Feitosa

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  1. Inara R. Leal
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  3. Xavier Arnan
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  4. Fernanda M. P. Oliveira
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  5. Gabriela B. Arcoverde
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Correspondence to Inara R. Leal .

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    José Maria Cardoso da Silva

  2. Department of Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Inara R. Leal  & Marcelo Tabarelli  & 

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Leal, I.R. et al. (2017). Ants of the Caatinga: Diversity, Biogeography, and Functional Responses to Anthropogenic Disturbance and Climate Change. In: Silva, J.M.C., Leal, I.R., Tabarelli, M. (eds) Caatinga. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68339-3_3

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