Direct and indirect effects of land use intensification on ant communities in temperate grasslands

土地利用集约化对温带草原蚂蚁群落的直接和间接影响

基本信息

批准号：
252153788
负责人：
Professorin Dr. Heike Feldhaar
金额：
--
依托单位：
Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie I
依托单位国家：
德国
项目类别：
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
德国
起止时间：
2013-12-31 至 2017-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/252153788?language=en
关键词：
Direct indirect effects land use

项目摘要

Ants are important ecosystem engineers in temperate grasslands as they modify soil structure and microbial communities by building subterranean nests and importing resources into these nests. Intensification of land use has been shown to negatively influence the structure of ant communities by reducing ant species richness and abundance with potential consequences for their functions as soil engineers. However, the mechanisms leading to changes in community structure are not well understood. Different types of land use may affect composition of ant communities and overall ant abundance either by altering available food sources (indirect effects) or by disturbance of nesting sites (direct effects). Ant communities in grasslands usually comprise species that consume prey, scavenge or feed on plant-derived food sources via trophobiosis (e.g. with aphids ), or rely on several of these food sources. Intensified land use typically results in lower plant species richness, which in concert with more frequent mowing may result in lower trophobiont abundance above as well as below-ground, while potential prey items (e.g. generalisitc herbivores) may be less affected. Omnivorous ant species may therefore show a shift in trophic niche towards relatively more predation. If such trophic plasticity is limited, the community may comprise a different set of species and show a shift towards more predacious species. Both mechanisms result in an ant community feeding on a higher trophic level. Ants should also be affected directly by more intensive land use due to disturbance of nesting sites by mowing and heavy grazing. Mound-building species should be more strongly affected by disturbances than other species. Ant as well as trophobiont species richness and abundance will be measured above and belowground on all grassland plots and interactions among the groups documented. The trophic niche of ants will be assessed using stable isotope analyses as well as preferred nutrient intake in the field. Mechanisms of community assembly will be analyzed by combining co-occurrence patterns with phylogenetic and phenotypic data. Potential changes in the specificity of trophic interactions between ants and aphids will be assessed using network analyses.

蚂蚁是温带草原的重要生态系统工程师，因为它们通过建造地下巢和将资源进口到这些巢穴中来修饰土壤结构和微生物群落。土地利用的强化已被证明，通过降低蚂蚁物种丰富度和丰富性，对其作为土壤工程师的功能产生潜在的后果，从而对蚂蚁群落的结构产生负面影响。但是，导致社区结构变化的机制尚不清楚。不同类型的土地使用可能会通过改变可用的食物来源（间接影响）或嵌套位点的干扰（直接效应）来影响蚂蚁群落和整体蚂蚁丰度的组成。草原上的蚂蚁群落通常包括通过滋养恐惧症（例如与蚜虫）食用猎物，清除或以植物来源的食物来源为食，或依靠其中几种食物来源的物种。加强土地的使用通常会导致植物的丰富度较低，与更频繁的割草相结合可能会导致较低的滋养性丰度和地下地下，而潜在的猎物（例如Generalisitc Herbivores）可能会受到较少的影响。因此，杂食性的蚂蚁物种可能显示出营养的利基市场向相对捕食的转变。如果这种营养可塑性受到限制，社区可能会构成一组不同的物种，并显示向更宽敞的物种的转变。两种机制都导致蚂蚁社区以更高的营养水平为食。由于割草和重大放牧对筑巢地点的干扰，蚂蚁也应直接受到更密集的土地利用影响。与其他物种相比，丘陵建造物种应受障碍的影响更大。蚂蚁以及滋养性物种的丰富度和丰度将在所有草原图上的上方和下方测量，以及所记载的群体之间的相互作用。将使用稳定的同位素分析以及该领域的首选营养摄入量评估蚂蚁的营养利基市场。通过将共发生模式与系统发育和表型数据相结合，将分析社区组装的机制。蚂蚁和蚜虫之间营养相互作用的特异性的潜在变化将使用网络分析评估。