Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Litter ant patchiness at the 1-m2 scale: disturbance dynamics in three Neotropical forests

  • Community Ecology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Large-scale (>100 m2/day) raids by tropical army ants have been linked to litter ant patchiness and diversity. In three Neotropical forests, densities of litter ants vary 10–20 fold at the 1-m2 scale. A survey of Barro Colorado Island. Panama, revealed that most army ant raids also occur on a 1-m2 scale with fronts ≤1 m wide. To explore the role that such small scale disturbance may play in creating litter ant patchiness, all litter ant nests were removed from 1-m2 plots. Control and disturbance plots were resampled 3 months later. In contrast to a previous study of large litter gaps, ant foundresses did not appear to prefer these smaller gaps. Nest densities, species richness, and species composition differed most from controls in a dry hilltop forest in Panama, second most in a wetter ravine forest nearby, and least in a Costa Rican wet forest. Disturbance may not leave a lasting signature in the wetter forests due to higher background levels of disturbance, faster recovery, or both.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams E, Tschinkel W (1995) Density-dependent competition in fire ants: effects on colony survivorship and size variation. J Anim Ecol 64: 315–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Brokaw N (1985) Gap-phase regeneration in a tropical forest. Ecology 66: 682–687

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne M (1994) Ecology of twig-dwelling ants in a wet lowland tropical forest. Biotropica 26: 61–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson DM, Gentry JB (1973) Effects of shading on the migratory behavior of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius. Ecology 54: 452–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao A (1984) Non-parametric estimation of the number of classes in a population. Scand J Stat 11: 265–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark D, Clark D (1984) Spacing dynamics of a tropical rain forest tree: evaluation of the Janzen-Connell model. Am Nat 124: 769–788

    Google Scholar 

  • Colwell R, Coddington J (1994) Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 345: 101–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Croat T (1978) Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Cushman JH, Whitham TG (1991) Competition mediating the outcome of a mutualism: protective services of ants as a limiting resource for membracids. Am Nat 138: 851–865

    Google Scholar 

  • Cushman JH, Martinsen GD, Mazeroll AI (1988) Density- and size-dependent spacing of ant nests: evidence for intraspecific competition. Oecologia 77: 522–525

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW (1985) An experimental study of diffuse competition in harvester ants. Am Nat 125: 500–506

    Google Scholar 

  • Denslow J (1987) Tropical rainforest gaps and tree species diversity. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18: 431–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Droual R (1981) Emigrations and defense behavior in the ant Pheidole desertorum Wheeler. Am Zool 21: 947

    Google Scholar 

  • Droual R (1984) Anti-predator behaviour in the ant Pheidole desertorum: the importance of multiple nests. Anim Behav 32: 1054–1058

    Google Scholar 

  • Droual R, Topoff H (1981) The emigration behavior of two species of the genus Pheidole (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) Arizona, New Mexico. Psyche 88: 135–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Fetcher N, Oberbauer S, Strain B (1985) Vegetation effects on microclimate in lowland tropical forest in Costa Rica. Int J Biometeorol 29: 145–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks N (1980) The evolutionary ecology of the army ant Eciton burchelli on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. University of Leeds, Leeds

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks NR (1982) Ecology and population regulation in the army ant Eciton burchelli (Barro Colorado Island, Panama). In: E.G. Leigh J, Rand AS, Windsor DM (ed) The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 389–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks NR, Bossert WH (1983) The influence of swarm raiding army ants on the patchiness and diversity of a tropical leaf litter ant community. In: Sutton EL, Whitmore TC, Chadwick AC (ed) Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 151–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Fretwell S, Lucas HJ (1970) On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds. Acta Biotheor 14: 16–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Gentry A (1988) Changes in plant community diversity and floristic composition on geographical and environmental gradients. Ann Mo Bot Gard 75: 1–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon DM (1992) Nest relocation in harvester ants. Ann Entomol Soc Am 85: 44–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper J (1967) A Darwinian approach to plant ecology. J Ecol 55: 247–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartshorn G (1978) Tree falls and tropical forest dynamics. In: Tomlinson P, Zimmerman M (ed) Tropical trees as living systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 617–638

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartshorn G (1983) Introduction to Plants. In: Janzen D (ed) Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 118–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartshorn G, Mammel B (1994) Vegetation types and floristic patterns. In: McDade L, Bawa K, Hespenheide H, Hartshorn G (ed) La Selva: ecology and natural history of a neotropical rain forest. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 73–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbers JM (1986) Nest site limitation and facultative polygyny in the ant Leptothorax longispinosus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 19: 115–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Holdridge L, Grenke W, Hatheway W, Liang T, Tosi J (1971) Forest environments in tropical life zones: a pilot study. Pergamon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Belknap, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Horvitz CC, Schemske DW (1990) Spatiotemporal variation in insect mutualists of a neotropical herb. Ecology 71: 1085–1097

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell S, Foster R (1986) Commonness and rarity in a neotropical forest: Implications for tropical tree conservation. In: Soule M (ed) Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer, Sunderland, pp 205–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell S, Foster R (1983) Diversity of canopy trees in a neotropical forest and implications for management. In: Sutton S, Whitmore T, Chadwick A (ed) Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 25–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaspari M (1993a) Body size and microclimate use in Neotropical granivorous ants. Decologia 96: 500–507

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaspari M (1993b) Removal of seeds from Neotropical frugivore droppings. Oecologia 95: 81–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaspari M (in press) Testing resource-based models of patchiness in four Neotropical litter ant assemblages. Oikos

  • LaMon B, Topoff H (1981) Avoiding predation by army ants: defensive behaviours of three ant species of the genus Camponotus. Anim Behav 29: 1070–1081

    Google Scholar 

  • Levey D, Byrne M (1993) Complex ant-plant interactions: rainforest ants as secondary dispersers and post-dispersal seed predators of rain forest plants. Ecology 74: 1802–1812

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin S, Paine R (1974) Disturbance, patch formation, and community structure. Proc Nat Acad Sci 71: 2744–2747

    Google Scholar 

  • Levings SC (1983) Seasonal, annual, and among-site variation in the ground ant community of a deciduous tropical forest: some causes of patchy species distributions. Ecol Monogr 53: 435–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Levings SC, Traniello JFA (1981) Territoriality, nest dispersion, and community structure in ants. Psyche 88: 265–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Levings SC, Windsor DM (1984) Litter moisture content as a determinant of litter arthropod distribution and abundance during the dry season on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Biotropica 16: 125–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Levings SC, Windsor D (1985) Litter arthropod populations in a tropical deciduous forest: relationships between years and arthropod groups. J Anim Ecol 54: 61–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman M, Lieberman D, Hartshorn G, Peralta R (1985) Small-scale altitudinal variation in lowland wet tropical forest vegetation. J Ecol 73: 505–516

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur R, Pianka E (1966) On optimal use of a patchy environment. Am Nat 100: 603–609

    Google Scholar 

  • Menge B, Berlow E, Blanchette C, Navarrete S, Yamada S (1994) The keystone species concept: variations in interaction strength in a rocky intertidal habitat. Ecol Monogr 64: 249–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirenda JT, Eakins DG, Gravelle K, Topoff H (1980) Predatory behavior and prey selection by army ants in a desert-grassland habitat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 7: 119–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson D (1994) The distribution of leaf litter invertebrates along a Neotropical altitudinal gradient. J Trop Ecol 10: 129–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Otis GW, Santana CE, Crawford DL, Higgins ML (1986) The effect of foraging army ants on leaf-litter arthropods. Biotropica 18: 56–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine R, Levin S (1981) Intertidal landscapes: disturbance and the dynamics of pattern. Ecol Monogr 81: 145–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfecto I (1992) Observations of a Labidus coecus (Latreille) underground raid in the Central Highlands of Costa Rica. Psyche 99: 214–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips O, Hall P, Gentry A, Sawyer S, Vasquez R (1994) Dynamics and species richness of tropical rain forests. Proc Nat Acad Sci 91: 2805–2809

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickett S, White P (1985) Patch dynamics: a synthesis. In: Pickett S, White P (ed) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York, pp 371–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Rettenmeyer CW (1963) Behavioral studies of army ants. Univ Kansas Sci Bull 44: 281–465

    Google Scholar 

  • Rettenmeyer CW, Chadab Crepet R, Naumann MG, Morales L (1983) Comparative foraging by Neotropical army ants. In: Jaisson P (ed) Social insects in the tropics. Université Paris-Nord, Paris, pp 59–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryti RT, Case TJ (1986) Overdispersion of ant colonies: a test of hypotheses. Oecologia 69: 446–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryti RT, Case TJ (1988) The regeneration niche of desert ants: effects of established colonies. Oecologia 75: 303–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryti RT, Case TJ (1992) The role of neighborhood competition in the spacing and diversity of ant communities. Am Nat 139 355–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanford RJ, Braker H, Hartshorn G (1986) Canopy openings in a primary Neotropical lowland forest. J Trop Ecol 2: 277–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Smallwood J (1982a) The effect of shade and competition on emigration rate in the ant Aphaenogaster rudis. Ecology 63: 124–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Smallwood J (1982b) Nest relocations in ants. Insectes Soc 29: 138–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D (1978) Cherries, ants and tent caterpillars: timing of nectar production in relation to susceptibility of caterpillars to ant predation. Ecology 59: 686–692

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D (1982) Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward PS (1981) Ecology and life history of the Rhytidoponera impressa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). I. Habitats, nest sites, and foraging behavior Australia, New Guinea. Psyche 1: 89–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiernasz D, Cole B (1995) Spatial distribution of Pogonomyrmex occidentalis: recruitment, mortality and overdispersion. J Anim Ecol 64: 519–527

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1958) Observations on the behavior of the cerapachyine ants. Insectes Soc 5: 129–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1959) Some ecological characteristics of ants in New Guinea rain forests. Ecology 40: 437–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Belknap, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi T (1992) Interspecific interference for nest sites between Leptothorax congruus and Monomorium intrudens. Insectes Soc 39: 117–127

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Michael Kaspari

    Present address: Dept. of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Room 314, 73019-0235, Norman, OK, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-453, PO Box 808, 94550, Livermore, CA, USA

    Michael Kaspari

Authors
  1. Michael Kaspari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kaspari, M. Litter ant patchiness at the 1-m2 scale: disturbance dynamics in three Neotropical forests. Oecologia 107, 265–273 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327911

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327911

Key words

Search

Navigation