Social insects dominate eastern US temperate hardwood forest macroinvertebrate communities in warmer regions.
Social insects dominate eastern US temperate hardwood forest macroinvertebrate communities in warmer regions.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0075843
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发表时间：
2013
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Bradford MA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
King JR;Warren RJ;Bradford MA
蚯蚓、白蚁和蚂蚁是陆地环境中常见的大型无脊椎动物，尽管大多数生态系统关于其丰度和生物量的数据很少。量化其面积丰度是了解其功能重要性的关键第一步。我们在美国东部温带硬木森林的四个地点集中采样了枯木，凋落物和土壤，这些地点跨越了这个生态系统的大部分纬度范围，以估计大型无脊椎动物群落中个体的丰度和生物量m−2。大型无脊椎动物，蚂蚁和白蚁以外，只有略有不同的网站之间的总丰度和生物量，它们是相似的顺序组成。白蚁和蚂蚁是枯木中数量最多的大型无脊椎动物，蚂蚁在枯枝落叶层和土壤中数量最多。最南端的地点（佛罗里达）的蚂蚁丰度和生物量m-2是所有生态系统中蚂蚁记录的最高值之一。蚂蚁和白蚁的生物量和丰度在整个范围内变化很大，从<1%的大型无脊椎动物丰度（在北方网站）到>95%的南部网站。我们的数据显示，在温带生态系统中，随着纬度的降低，真社会性昆虫占主导地位。热带地区以外的社会性昆虫相对丰度非常高，这支持了现有的数据，即蚂蚁与白蚁沿着是全球最丰富的土壤大型无脊椎动物，并且在生物量m−2方面超过了大多数其他陆生动物（脊椎动物和无脊椎动物）。我们的研究结果提供了一个基础，以提高我们的理解社会昆虫在调节温带森林生态系统过程中的功能作用。
Earthworms, termites, and ants are common macroinvertebrates in terrestrial environments, although for most ecosystems data on their abundance and biomass is sparse. Quantifying their areal abundance is a critical first step in understanding their functional importance. We intensively sampled dead wood, litter, and soil in eastern US temperate hardwood forests at four sites, which span much of the latitudinal range of this ecosystem, to estimate the abundance and biomass m−2 of individuals in macroinvertebrate communities. Macroinvertebrates, other than ants and termites, differed only slightly among sites in total abundance and biomass and they were similar in ordinal composition. Termites and ants were the most abundant macroinvertebrates in dead wood, and ants were the most abundant in litter and soil. Ant abundance and biomass m−2 in the southernmost site (Florida) were among the highest values recorded for ants in any ecosystem. Ant and termite biomass and abundance varied greatly across the range, from <1% of the total macroinvertebrate abundance (in the northern sites) to >95% in the southern sites. Our data reveal a pronounced shift to eusocial insect dominance with decreasing latitude in a temperate ecosystem. The extraordinarily high social insect relative abundance outside of the tropics lends support to existing data suggesting that ants, along with termites, are globally the most abundant soil macroinvertebrates, and surpass the majority of other terrestrial animal (vertebrate and invertebrate) groups in biomass m−2. Our results provide a foundation for improving our understanding of the functional role of social insects in regulating ecosystem processes in temperate forest.
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影响因子：
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