Abstract
Species must balance effective competition with avoidance of mortality imposed by predators or parasites to coexist within a local ecological community. Attributes of the habitat in which species interact, such as structural complexity, have the potential to affect how species balance competition and mortality by providing refuge from predators or parasites. Disturbance events such as fire can drastically alter habitat complexity and may be important modifiers of species interactions in communities. This study investigates whether the presence of habitat complexity in the form of leaf litter can alter interactions between the behaviorally dominant host ants Pheidole diversipilosa and Pheidole bicarinata, their respective specialist dipteran parasitoids (Phoridae: Apocephalus sp. 8 and Apocephalus sp. 25) and a single species of ant competitor (Dorymyrmex insanus). We used a factorial design to manipulate competition (presence/absence of competitors), mortality risk (presence/absence of parasitoids) and habitat complexity (presence/absence of leaf litter). Parasitoid presence reduced soldier caste foraging, but refuge from habitat complexity allowed increased soldier foraging in comparison to treatments in which no refuge was available. Variation in soldier foraging behavior correlated strongly with foraging success, a proxy for colony fitness. Habitat complexity allowed both host species to balance competitive success with mortality avoidance. The effect of fire on habitat complexity was also studied, and demonstrated that the immediate negative impact of fire on habitat complexity can persist for multiple years. Our findings indicate that habitat complexity can increase dominant host competitive success even in the presence of parasitoids, which may have consequences for coexistence of subordinate competitors and community diversity in general.
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Acknowledgements
Ed LeBrun provided crucial training and input at the inception of this study. This manuscript benefited substantially from the comments of two anonymous reviewers and Craig Osenberg. Jessica Pearce, Philipp Wiescher, Roxana Arauco, Ryan Bixenmann, Arne Hultquist and Martin Moyano also provided useful comments on the manuscript. Thanks to Stefan Cover for identifying host ants and the Sperry lab at the University of Utah for use of their drying ovens. This study would not have been possible without the assistance of Joe and Valer Austin, the facilities of the Southwestern Research Station and the help of Robert Minckely. Mary Wilkinson provided much needed support. We would like to acknowledge funding from the American Museum of Natural History Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund, Sigma Xi, the University of Utah Biology Department and the Associated Students of the University of Utah. A NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant to E. B. Wilkinson partially funded this work. D. H. Feener Jr wishes to acknowledge support from NSF grant DEB 03-16524. These experiments comply with the current laws of the countries in which they were performed.
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Communicated by Andrew Gonzales.
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Wilkinson, E.B., Feener , D.H. Habitat complexity modifies ant–parasitoid interactions: implications for community dynamics and the role of disturbance. Oecologia 152, 151–161 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0634-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0634-6