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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF351

Ant Resource Detection Distance at the Caxiuana National Forest in Brazil 2017-2018

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Rony Peterson Santos Almeida
  • Investigators: Rogerio Silva, Aaron Ellison
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 2017
  • End date: 2018
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Brazil
  • Latitude: -1.718 degrees
  • Longitude: -51.46 degrees
  • Elevation: 38 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Hymenoptera, Formicidae (ants)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.351.4
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurement
  • Research topic: biodiversity studies; large experiments and permanent plot studies
  • LTER core area: primary production, disturbance patterns
  • Keywords: ants, climate change, droughts, models, rain, species richness
  • Abstract:

    Environmental change scenarios of low precipitation forecast species loss in tropical regions. These losses can affect generalist species that provide important ecosystem services, such as controlling the rate at which nutrients become available for uptake by other organisms in tropical forests. Here, we use a long-term rainwater exclusion experiment in primary Amazonian rainforest to test whether induced water stress affects the detection distance of food resources (baits) in a generalist ant guild (number of colonies, richness, and composition) that remove resources on the ground. We found that (i) overall the distance of resource removal by generalist ants did not change with drought; (ii) however, comparing ant species that occurred in drought-induced and control environments, workers walked shorter distances in the drought habitat; (iii) the number of resources detected by ant colonies in the drought-induced habitat decreased by 50%. Although generalist ants are considered resilient to habitat disturbance, the effect of reduced rainfall can negatively affect the services mediated by them. The rate of removal and consumption of resources in tropical forests may be related to abundance of generalist ants; losses in both nest density and walking distances may cause cascading effects on ecosystem processes and the services they mediate.

  • Methods:

    Ants were sampled in two campaigns (September 2017 and February 2018), always between 09–11 h and 14–17 h and at least 2 h after rain to avoid short effects of rains in ant activity. The baits, ≈ 3g of a mixture of canned sardines and manioc flour in equal proportions, were placed along linear transects of 20 m each, randomly arranged within each plot. The bait was made available on a piece of paper (10 × 10 cm) placed on the litter every 2 m along each transect, resulting in 11 sampling points per transect. In total, 10 transects were observed in the control plot and 10 transects in the experiment plot, totaling 20 transects (2 plots × 2 seasons × 5 transects). After 10 minutes, all ants that used the resource were followed back to their nest entrance, which was flagged and marked with a unique identifier. The search effort for the colonies was standardized to 60 minutes and three people per transect, where each observer monitored three to four baits. After the search time, the detection distance (defined as the linear distance between the bait and nest) was measured. We evaluated the detection distance (defined as the bait distance to nest) between the plots (Control and Experiment) in three scales: (i) transect, (ii) among-species, and (iii) within-species using the generalized liner model (GLM). We also evaluated the ant assembly among the plots. For species richness and abundance of colonies we also use GLM, for the composition we use a Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA).

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Almeida R. 2023. Ant Resource Detection Distance at the Caxiuana National Forest in Brazil 2017-2018. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF351 (v.4). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/092d12d3379d682fc9264f7f8182febf.

Detailed Metadata

hf351-01: community transect

  1. num: number (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  2. Plot: ESECAFLOR plots
    • Control: control
    • Experiment: experiment
  3. Transect: transect code
  4. Distance: median of the detection distance of all colonies recorded in transect (unit: centimeter / missing value: NA)
  5. Colony: observed ant colony number in each transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  6. Richness: observed ant species richness in each transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  7. Ap.pil: Apterostigma gr. pilosum - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  8. Az.s01: Azteca sp. 01 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  9. Bl.bra: Blepharidatta brasiliensis - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  10. Br.M02: Brachymyrmex MPEG 02 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  11. Br.M03: Brachymyrmex MPEG 03 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  12. Ce.opa: Cephalotes opacus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  13. Cr.bra: Crematogaster brasiliensis - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  14. Cr.fla: Crematogaster flavosensitiva - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  15. Cr.lev: Crematogaster levior - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  16. Cr.lim: Crematogaster limata - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  17. Cr.sot: Crematogaster sotobosque - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  18. Do.bis: Dolichoderus bispinosus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  19. Ec.ede: Ectatomma edentatum - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  20. Ec.tub: Ectatomma tuberculatum - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  21. Gn.hor: Gnamptogenys horni - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  22. Ma.con: Mayaponera constricta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  23. Ne.api: Neoponera apicalis - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  24. Ne.cre: Neoponera crenata - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  25. Ne.ver: Neoponera verenae - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  26. Ny.M01: Nylanderia MPEG 01 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  27. Ny.M02: Nylanderia MPEG 02 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  28. Ny.M03: Nylanderia MPEG 03 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  29. Oc.neo: Ochetomyrmex neopolitus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  30. Oc.sem: Ochetomyrmex semipolitus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  31. Od.cae: Odontomachus caelatus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  32. Od.hem: Odontomachus hematodus - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  33. Pa.bug: Paratrachymyrmex nr. bugnioni - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  34. Pa.str: Pachycondyla striata - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  35. Ph.a_l: Pheidole aff. laidlowi - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  36. Ph.ade: Pheidole ademonia - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  37. Ph.ast: Pheidole astur - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  38. Ph.bic: Pheidole biconstricta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  39. Ph.car: Pheidole aff. caribbaea - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  40. Ph.cur: Pheidole cursor - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  41. Ph.dis: Pheidole distorta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  42. Ph.fow: Pheidole fowleri - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  43. Ph.fra: Pheidole fracticeps - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  44. Ph.gau: Pheidole aff. gauthieri - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  45. Ph.hua: Pheidole huacana - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  46. Ph.jea: Pheidole jeannei - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  47. Ph.leo: Pheidole nr. leonina - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  48. Ph.lon: Pheidole longiseta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  49. Ph.mei: Pheidole meinerti - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  50. Ph.moo: Pheidole nr. mooreorum - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  51. Ph.p_l: Pheidole nr. longiseta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  52. Ph.par: Pheidole paraensis - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  53. Ph.ped: Pheidole nr. pedana - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  54. Ph.pyg: Pheidole pygmaea - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  55. Ph.s03: Pheidole sp. 03 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  56. Ph.s14: Pheidole sp. 14 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  57. Ph.s16: Pheidole sp. 16 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  58. Ph.sch: Pheidole schwarzmaieri - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  59. Ph.sco: Pheidole scolioceps - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  60. Ph.sen: Pheidole sensitiva - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  61. Ph.sub: Pheidole subarmata - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  62. Ph.tri: Pheidole triconstricta - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  63. Ps.ten: Pseudomyrmex tenuis - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  64. So.M01: Solenopsis MPEG 01 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  65. So.M02: Solenopsis MPEG 02 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  66. So.M03: Solenopsis MPEG 03 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  67. So.M07: Solenopsis MPEG 07 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  68. So.M08: Solenopsis MPEG 08 - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  69. Wa.aur: Wasmannia auropunctata - number of colonies recorded in transect (unit: number / missing value: NA)

hf351-02: colonies

  1. num: number (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  2. Plot: ESECAFLOR plots
    • Control: control
    • Experiment: experiment
  3. Colony_code: colony code
  4. Distance: detection distance defined as the bait distance to ant colony (unit: centimeter / missing value: NA)
  5. Specie: specie code (See hf351-01-community_transect.csv for ant species names)

hf351-03: plots

  1. num: number (unit: number / missing value: NA)
  2. Specie: Specie code (See hf351-01-community_transect.csv for ant species names)
  3. Plot: ESECAFLOR plots
    • Control: control
    • Experiment: experiment
  4. Group: species selected after a Multinomial Species Classification Method (CLAM) to classify species of the community into three ecological groups
    • Control_Specialist: undisturbed forest specialists
    • Experiment_Specialist: drought forest specialists
    • Generalist: distribution independent of habitat (i.e., occurs in both habitats
  5. Distance: median of the detection distance of all ant colonies recorded for a given species (unit: centimeter / missing value: NA)

hf351-04: R code for detection distance in the ESECAFLOR plots

  • Compression: none
  • Format: R script
  • Type: script