The Effects of Restoration Age and Prescribed Burns on Grassland Ant Community Structure
The Effects of Restoration Age and Prescribed Burns on Grassland Ant Community Structure
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恢复年龄和规定烧伤对草地蚂蚁群落结构的影响
DOI：
10.1093/ee/nvv110
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发表时间：
2015
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
Nicole Vachter
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
S. Menke;Emilee Gaulke;Allison Hamel;Nicole Vachter
摘要北美草原环境由于退化和农业及住房的改变而濒临灭绝。管理和恢复草原的工作传统上侧重于监测植物群落，以确定恢复的成功，但纳入动物群落可能会提供生态系统功能和恢复的重要基准。蚂蚁在维持温带草原生态系统健康方面发挥着许多作用，但人们对蚂蚁群落如何应对恢复却知之甚少。我们研究了恢复年龄和规定的烧伤蚂蚁社区在两种类型的伊利诺伊州草原，大草原和稀树草原，并确定恢复成功的指标物种的作用。草地环境包括从新恢复的地点到恢复时间超过15年的地点的残留物和退化物。我们表明，草原和稀树草原蚂蚁社区是不同的，但以类似的方式恢复。三个不同的草原蚂蚁组合的基础上恢复网站的年龄<3岁，网站已恢复>5岁，和残余草原。四个不同的稀树草原蚂蚁组合的基础上恢复网站的年龄<3岁，网站5-15岁，网站>15岁，和残余稀树草原环境。考虑到恢复年龄，草原和稀树草原自上次燃烧以来的时间并不能解释群落组成或物种丰富度。在草原和热带稀树草原的几种蚂蚁的发生率，表明其适用于作为指示物种的可预测的变化。
ABSTRACT North American grassland environments are endangered as a result of degradation and conversion for agriculture and housing. Efforts to manage and restore grasslands have traditionally focused on monitoring plant communities to determine restoration success, but the incorporation of animal communities may provide important benchmarks of ecosystem function and restoration. Ants play many roles in maintaining ecosystem health in temperate grasslands, but relatively little is known about how ant communities respond to restoration. We studied the role that restoration age and prescribed burns have on ant communities in two types of Illinois grasslands, prairies and savannas, and identify indicator species of restoration success. Grassland environments included remnants and restorations that varied in age from newly restored sites, to sites that have been under restoration for >15 yr. We demonstrate that prairie and savanna ant communities are distinct, but respond to restoration in a similar manner. Three distinct prairie ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site—sites <3yr old, sites that have been under restoration >5 yr, and remnant prairies. Four distinct savanna ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site—sites <3 yr old, sites 5–15 yr old, sites >15 yr old, and remnant savanna environments. After accounting for restoration age, time since last burn in both prairie and savannas does not explain community composition or species richness. Several ant species in both prairies and savannas have predictable changes in incidence that indicate their suitability for use as indicator species.