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Leaf-cutting ant populations profit from human disturbances in tropical dry forest in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2017

Felipe F. S. Siqueira ,
José Domingos Ribeiro-Neto ,
Marcelo Tabarelli ,
Alan N. Andersen ,
Rainer Wirth  and
Inara R. Leal
Felipe F. S. Siqueira
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670–901, Recife, PE, Brazil
José Domingos Ribeiro-Neto
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670–901, Recife, PE, Brazil Departamento de Fitotecnia e Ciências Ambientais, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rodovia PB-079, 58397-000, Areia, PB, Brazil
Marcelo Tabarelli
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/n°, Cidade Universitária, 50670–901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Alan N. Andersen
Affiliation:
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia
Rainer Wirth
Affiliation:
Plant Ecology and Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, PO Box 3049, 67663, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Inara R. Leal*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/n°, Cidade Universitária, 50670–901, Recife, PE, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author. Email: irleal@ufpe.br
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Abstract:

Anthropogenic disturbance often results in the proliferation of native species of particular groups that leads to biotic homogenization. Leaf-cutting ants are an example of such winner organisms in tropical rain forests, but their response to disturbance in dry forests is poorly known. We investigated Atta colony density in areas of tropical dry forest in Brazil with different distance to roads and vegetation cover. Atta colonies were surveyed in 59 belt transects of 300 × 20 m, covering a total area of 35.4 ha. We found 224 Atta colonies, 131 of which were active and belonged to Atta opaciceps (87 colonies, 2.45 ha−1), A. sexdens (35 colonies, 0.98 ha−1) and A. laevigata (9 colonies, 0.25 ha−1). The density of active colonies sharply decreased from 15 ± 2.92 ha−1 in the 50-m zone along roads to only 2.55 ± 1.65 ha−1 at distances up to 300 m. The reverse pattern was observed for inactive colonies. Active Atta colonies preferentially occur in areas with low vegetation cover, while inactive colonies prefer areas with high vegetation cover. We demonstrate for the first time that anthropogenic disturbances promote the proliferation of leaf-cutting ants in dry forest in Brazil, which may affect plant regeneration via herbivory and ecosystem engineering as demonstrated for rain forests.

Keywords

Atta laevigataAtta opacicepsAtta sexdenschronic anthropogenic disturbancecolony densityecological releaseedge effectroadsseasonally dry tropical forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 33 , Issue 5 , September 2017 , pp. 337 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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