Influences of species interactions with aggressive ants and habitat filtering on nest colonization and community composition of arboreal twig-nesting ants

Ant community assembly is driven by many factors including species interactions (e.g. competition, predation, parasitism), habitat filtering (e.g. vegetation differences, food and nesting resources), and dispersal. Canopy ant communities, including dominant and twig-nesting ants, are structured by all these different factors, but we know less about the impacts of species interactions and habitat filters acting at the colonization or recruitment stage. We examined occupation of artificial twig nests placed in shade trees in coffee agroecosystems. We asked whether species interactions -- aggression from the dominant canopy ant, Azteca sericeasur (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) -- or habitat filtering -- species of tree where nests were placed, tree size, or surrounding vegetation -- influence colonization, species richness, and community composition of twig-nesting ants. We found 20 species of ants occupying artificial nests. Nest occupation was lower on trees with A. sericeasur, but did not di...

蚂蚁群落构建受多重因素驱动，涵盖物种相互作用（如竞争、捕食、寄生）、生境过滤（如植被差异、食物与筑巢资源）以及扩散过程。树冠蚂蚁群落（包含优势种与细枝筑巢蚂蚁）受上述所有因素调控，但目前学界对物种相互作用与生境过滤在定殖或招募阶段产生的影响仍所知有限。本研究针对咖啡农业生态系统内遮阴树上布设的人工细枝巢开展定殖调查，旨在探究两类因子对细枝筑巢蚂蚁的定殖情况、物种丰富度及群落组成的影响：其一为物种相互作用——优势树冠蚂蚁银灰立毛蚁（Azteca sericeasur，膜翅目：蚁科）的攻击行为；其二为生境过滤因子——巢位所在树木种类、树木尺寸及周边植被状况。本研究共记录到20种蚂蚁占据人工巢。结果显示，在有银灰立毛蚁栖息的树木上，人工巢的定殖率更低，但并未……