Tropical Biome Switching: Ant Communities Transition From Savanna to Rainforest Following Cessation of Burning

IF 3.6 2区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Biogeography Pub Date : 2025-06-24 DOI:10.1111/jbi.70004

François Brassard, Kinjia Munkara-Murray, Keith Cook, David Fell, Alan N. Andersen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Savannas and rainforests co-occur as mosaics across large areas of the tropics. These mosaics are dynamic, with savanna and rainforest switching in relatively short time scales, largely through the effects of fire. Most research to date addresses such biome switching through the lens of vegetation, with little attention given to faunal responses to transitions between savannas and rainforests.

Aim

To assess the responses of ant communities to biome switching from savanna to rainforest following 50 years of fire cessation.

Location

Iron Range (Kutini-Payamu) on Australia's Cape York Peninsula.

Taxon

Subterranean, leaf litter, epigaeic, and arboreal ant assemblages.

Methods

We sampled ant assemblages using pitfall, subterranean and arboreal traps and leaf litter extractions across different vegetation types: savanna, secondary forest, primary dry forest and primary wet forest.

Results

The ant fauna was highly stratified, with distinct subterranean, leaf-litter, epigaeic and arboreal assemblages. Ant communities in secondary forest were more similar to that in primary forest than in savanna. However, the secondary forest is still missing a range of specialist forest taxa, especially cryptobiotic species from the soil and leaf litter. The status of specialist canopy species remains unknown.

Main Conclusions

Despite low similarity in floristic composition due to a poor representation of primary rainforest trees in secondary forest, we find a clear switch from savanna to rainforest ant communities after 50 years of fire cessation. Even though full recovery of rainforest ant communities has not occurred, the current 50 year-old secondary forest has much of the ant biodiversity value of primary rainforest, including for regionally endemic species that are rainforest specialists. This provides further evidence that ant communities respond more strongly to vegetation structure than to floristic composition.

Abstract Image

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热带生物群落转换：停止燃烧后蚂蚁群落从稀树草原过渡到雨林

热带稀树草原和热带雨林像马赛克一样在热带的大片地区共存。这些马赛克是动态的，稀树草原和雨林在相对较短的时间尺度上转换，主要是通过火灾的影响。迄今为止，大多数研究都是从植被的角度来研究这种生物群落的转换，很少关注动物对热带草原和热带雨林之间转换的反应。目的研究森林大火停止50年后，蚂蚁群落对热带雨林向稀树草原转变的响应。位于澳大利亚约克角半岛的铁岭（库蒂尼-帕亚姆）。分类群地下，落叶，地上，和树栖蚂蚁组合。方法利用陷阱、地下陷阱和树下陷阱，采集不同植被类型（稀树草原、次生林、原始干旱林和原始湿森林）的蚁群。结果蚂蚁区系分层程度高，有明显的地下、凋落叶、上、树栖组合。次生林蚁群与原生林蚁群的相似性大于稀树草原蚁群。然而，次生林仍然缺少一系列特殊的森林分类群，特别是来自土壤和凋落叶的隐生物种。特殊冠层物种的状况仍然未知。尽管由于原始雨林树木在次生林中的代表性较差，导致植物区系组成的相似性较低，但我们发现在停止火灾50年后，从稀树草原到雨林蚂蚁群落的明显转变。尽管雨林蚂蚁群落尚未完全恢复，但目前已有50年历史的次生林具有许多原始雨林的蚂蚁生物多样性价值，包括对热带雨林专家的区域特有物种。这进一步证明了蚂蚁群落对植被结构的响应比对植物区系组成的响应更强烈。

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来源期刊

Journal of Biogeography 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

7.70

自引率

5.10%

发文量

203

审稿时长

2.2 months

期刊介绍： Papers dealing with all aspects of spatial, ecological and historical biogeography are considered for publication in Journal of Biogeography. The mission of the journal is to contribute to the growth and societal relevance of the discipline of biogeography through its role in the dissemination of biogeographical research.