Community composition of ants beneath invasive plant Rosa rugosa

Abstract

Planting of Japanese rose Rosa rugosa along the Baltic Sea coastline has contributed to the synanthropization of coastal ecosystems. Many ant species inhabiting coastal dunes are rare, have high conservation value and are sensitive to ecosystem disturbances. This short communication presents a study describing the species composition of ground-nesting ants beneath the invasive plant Rosa rugosa. Twenty-five paired invaded–native plots were established along the Hel Peninsula in gray and white dunes. We identified a total of 13 species within both the invaded and reference plots, of which 11 species were shared. The difference between reference and invaded plots was tested using permutational multivariate anova based on the Bray–Curtis index dissimilarity matrix. Permutational multivariate anova partitioning showed the greatest component was the residual, and there was no evidence for vegetation type effect. Thus, we did not confirm the negative influence of R. rugosa invasion on the community composition of ground-nesting ants. Comparing the species composition of invaded and reference plots, we identified a small bias towards a slightly higher frequency of hygrophilous Myrmica species and a higher frequency of the psammophilous ant Lasius psammophilus, which raises the question for future investigations of whether R. rugosa creates nesting microhabitats preferred by hygrophilous ants.