Ant Community Structure in Citrus Orchards in the Mediterranean Basin: Impoverishment as a Consequence of Habitat Homogeneity

• Published in: Environmental entomology 2009-04, Vol.38 (2), p.317-324
• Main Authors: Cerdá, X, Palacios, R, Retana, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; ant communities; ant community; Ants - classification; Ants - physiology; Behavior, Animal; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Citrus; citrus orchard; COMMUNITY AND ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY; community structure; dominance; dominant species; Ecosystem; edge effects; Formicidae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; habitats; insect communities; Lasius niger; Linepithema humile; Mediterranean Region; natural habitats; orchards; Pheidole; Population Density; Population Dynamics; seasonal variation; seasonality; Seasons; Social Behavior; species diversity; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Tetramorium caespitum
• ISSN: 0046-225X; 1938-2936
• DOI: 10.1603/022.038.0203

This study analyzes the structure and composition of ant communities in citrus orchards in Catalonia (northeast Spain) and compares them with the ant fauna found in natural communities of the region. In the citrus orchards considered in this study, the most abundant species were Lasius niger and Pheidole pallidula, which are behaviorally dominant species. Two other dominant species, Linepithema humile and Tetramorium caespitum, were also abundant, although only in one orchard. Species richness and diversity in the studied orchards were low compared with natural communities: although in orchards, there were few species and low diversity values, in natural communities, the number of species was higher and diversity also increased. This reduction of species richness and diversity was not modified by edge effects: only light and local differences were found between the inner part of the orchards and the orchard margins, and differences among orchards were greater than differences between inner parts and edges. The activity peaks of the different ant species actively foraging on these citrus orchards were distributed throughout the whole activity period of ants. Overall, the composition of ant communities present in the citrus orchards of this study was extremely poor. This agrees with the fact that monocultures are ecosystems associated with an inevitable loss of biodiversity and abundance of insect populations.