Ant communities respond to a large-scale disturbance along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico, U.S.A.

Large scale disturbances are known to significantly alter aspects of both species diversity and ecosystem function. In the Caribbean, hurricane events are a significant form of disturbance, the effects of which have been shown to alter food web function, especially in the terrestrial environment. Although hurricanes have been studied from a variety of their effects on ecosystems, there is little research on how these storms affect species along elevational gradients. Within terrestrial habitats, ants form the basis of many food webs, being both numerically dominant and functioning in a variety of roles within the food web. On September 20th, 2017 Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm, crossed over the island of Puerto Rico, causing significant damage to both human and natural systems. We collected data on ant abundance and composition from 150 samples of leaf litter along a 700 m elevational gradient during June the year of and after the storm event. Ant abundance increased by 400% after ..., Samples were conducted in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), a 11,330 ha site located on the eastern side of the main island of Puerto Rico, U.S.A. Average annual rainfall is 3,460 mm (McDowell & Estrada-Pinto, 1988) and monthly temperatures range from 21 to 25°C (Brown et al., 1983). In both 2017 and 2018 sampling took place between June 14 and July 24, which are within the wet season for the island. The elevation transect we used occurred in a mixed forest, typical of Tabonuco forest (Uriarte et al. 2019), composed of both large hardwoods (e.g., Dacryodes excelsa) and gap specialists like Prestoea montana and Cecropia peltata, across fifteen different elevations. Sample sites were from 300 m to 1000 m elevation at 50 m elevation increments (n = 15). At each elevation, 10 plots (total 10 m x 10 m) were laid out in a 2 x 5 grid, with no space between adjacent plots. Within each plot, we sampled litter using a 0.5 m2 PVC frame in either the northwest corner in the upper five plo..., , # Data from: Ant communities respond to a large-scale disturbance along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico, U.S.A.

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1vhhmgr1q](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1vhhmgr1q)

Data are ant abundance values for 26 species collected in the Luquillo mountains in Puerto Rico in 2017 and 2018. Ants were collected in 10 plots per elevation (spanning every 50 m from 300 to 1000 m) by collecting all litter in each plot in a 0.5 m plot and sorting using a Winkler sac hung for 48 hours. After this time all ants were sorted and identified to species using appropriate keys.

## Description of the data and file structure

Data are arranged in columns as species names and the year of collection (2017 or 2018) across 15 elevations (from 300 to 1000 m with samples every 50 m). Fully species names are located below the data.

*Anochetus mayri*

*Bethylidae sp.*

*Brachymyrmex sp*

*Cyphomyrmex minutus*

*Eurhopalothrix gravis*

*Hypoponera opacior*

*Linepithema iniquum*

*Mo...,