On the biogeography of salt limitation: A study of ant communities

Sodium is an essential nutrient whose deposition in rainfall decreases with distance inland. The herbivores and microbial decomposers that feed on sodium-poor vegetation should be particularly constrained along gradients of decreasing sodium. We studied the use of sucrose and NaCl baits in 17 New Wo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2008-11, Vol.105 (46), p.17848-17851
Main Authors: Kaspari, Michael, Yanoviak, Stephen P, Dudley, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Ants
Ants - classification
Ants - metabolism
biogeochemistry
Biogeography
Biological Sciences
carnivores
feeding preferences
Food Chain
Food chains
Food webs
Forest insects
Forest litter
Formicidae
Genera
geographical variation
Geography
herbivores
Insect communities
Insect ecology
Insects
Marine ecosystems
nutrient availability
Salt
Sodium
sodium chloride
Sodium Chloride - metabolism
Studies
Sucrose - metabolism
Terrestrial ecosystems
Toxicity
Tropical rain forests
zoogeography
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Summary:Sodium is an essential nutrient whose deposition in rainfall decreases with distance inland. The herbivores and microbial decomposers that feed on sodium-poor vegetation should be particularly constrained along gradients of decreasing sodium. We studied the use of sucrose and NaCl baits in 17 New World ant communities located 4-2757 km inland. Sodium use was higher in genera and subfamilies characterized as omnivores/herbivores compared with those classified as carnivores and was lower in communities embedded in forest litter than in those embedded in abundant vegetation. Sodium use was increased in ant communities further inland, as was preference for the baits with the highest sodium concentration. Sucrose use, a measure of ant activity, peaked in communities 10-100 km inland. We suggest that the geography of ant activity is shaped by sodium toxicity near the shore and by sodium deficit farther inland. Given the importance of ants in terrestrial ecosystems, changing patterns of rainfall with global change may ramify through inland food webs.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0804528105