Habitat simplification affects functional group structure along with taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of temperate-zone ant assemblages over a ten-year period
Data files
Jan 22, 2024 version files 62.65 KB
Abstract
Biodiversity is declining at various scales due to habitat simplification. Nevertheless, there is scarce information on how the biotic and abiotic changes linked to simplification affect several diversity dimensions, such as taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversities. This study investigated whether transforming natural oak forests into induced grasslands affected species diversity, functional group structure, and phylogenetic diversity of ant assemblages inhabiting a temperate forest in central Mexico. We placed over 1,000 pitfall traps in five sampling events covering a ten-year period. We used Hill numbers to evaluate species diversity differences between vegetation types and patterns over time. Ant species were classified into stress-related functional groups, which were analyzed for their association with vegetation types and changes to their proportional abundance over time. We calculated the standardized effect size of the mean nearest taxon distance to quantify the evolutionary history and test for non-random patterns within vegetation types and sampling years. Species richness did not differ between vegetation types, yet grasslands showed greater diversity for the q=1 and q=2 orders. Besides, we found three ant species as bioindicators for each vegetation. Regarding functional structure, cold climate specialists were associated with oak forests. In contrast, generalist species were predominant in induced grasslands. Higher phylogenetic diversity with an overdispersed structure was associated with oak forest, whereas lower phylogenetic diversity and a clustered pattern were found in induced grassland. These results indicate that habitat simplification may not affect the number of ant species but rather increases their relative abundance and reorganizes the functional and phylogenetic structure in the ecosystem, particularly shift towards the dominance of evolutionary close-related species and broad-stress tolerant groups. These results highlight the importance of integrating further dimensions of diversity to properly evaluate the reassembly dynamics after habitat simplification and understand the mechanisms driving this biodiversity loss.
README: Habitat simplification affects functional group structure along with taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of temperate-zone ant assemblages over a ten-year period.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0k6djhb6x
Description of the data and file structure
Data from S6 to S9 were utilized to compare alpha, functional, and phylogenetic diversity between a native oak forest and an induced grassland in a temperate forest in central Mexico
Authors
Pérez-Toledo, G. Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología AC, Carretera Antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, México. gibranr.perez@gmail.com
Cuautle, M. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Km 10.5 Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala 90120, México. mcuautle2004@gmail.com
Castillo-Guevara, C. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Km 10.5 Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala 90120, México. guevaracc@yahoo.com.mx
Miguelena, J.G. Arkansas State University, Campus Querétaro, Carrera Estatal 100, km 17.5. 76270. Colón, Querétaro, México. jmiguelenabada@astate.edu
File List
Table 1
S1 Sampling_characteristics
S3 Taxonomic_list_of_ant_species
S6 Taxonomic_matrix_ambient
S7 Taxonomic_matrix_ambient_year
S8 Functional_groups
S9 Functional groups_by_year
TreesFB_100
File descriptions
Table 1 Sampling characteristics (Type of trap, vegetation type, collecting liquid, pitfall size (cm), period of time (hrs), number of transects/vegetation/season, number of pitfall/transects, distance between pitfalls/year (m), sampling dates (day/month) for the different years in the study zone FBSP (Flor del Bosque State Park)
S1 Year, vegetation type, season, transect code (TX = Transect number x), and geographic coordinates for the different points sampled in the study zone PSFB (Flor del Bosque State Park).
S3 contains the taxonomic list of the ant species found, along with their frequencies (the number of times a particular ant species was found in a pitfall trap) in each vegetation type (Oak Forest and Induced Grassland) and sampling year (2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2017).
S6 was employed to assess the alpha taxonomic diversity at order levels 0 (q=0), 1 (q=1), and 2 (q=2) (q=diversity order), for two vegetation types (Oak Forest and Induced Grassland), whereas S7 was utilized for the same assessment across multiple sampling years (2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2017) within the same vegetation types. The databases contain frequencies for each ant species, indicating the number of times a particular ant species was found in a pitfall trap within each vegetation type and year.
S8 was employed to compare proportions of functional groups for two vegetation types (Oak Forest and Induced grassland), while S9 was used for the same comparison across multiple sampling years (2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2017). We implemented a proportion test based on a z-test of two proportions to assess whether functional groups were significantly associated with vegetation types. The "rstatix" package (Kassambara, 2020) was used for these analyses. The databases contain frequencies for each ant functional group, indicating the number of times a particular ant species within a specific functional group was found in a pitfall trap within each vegetation type and year. Functional group (FG) abbreviation stands for CCS: Cold Climate Specialists; GM: Generalist Myrmicinae; OP: Opportunists; SP: Specialist Predators; CS: Cryptic Species; HCS: Hot Climate Specialists; SC: Subordinate Camponotini.
tressFB_100 Based on the most-recent backbone tree derived from a time-calibrated, genus-level phylogeny of Blanhard and Moreau, 2017, we simulated 100 species-level phylogenies using the list of ant species collected in the study area. The relationships within genera were obtained from a Yule (pure-birth) process using the genus.to.species.tree function in the "phytools" package (Revell, 2012). This data base contains the 100 phylogenies.
Kassambara, A. (2020). rstatix: Pipe-friendly framework for basic statistical tests. In R package version 0.6. 0. https://github.com/kassambara/rstatix
Revell, L. J. (2012). phytools: an R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 3(2), 217–223.
Methods
Study site
The study was conducted in the temperate natural protected area of Flor del Bosque State Park (FBSP). The FBSP consists of 699.2 ha and is located in Puebla, Mexico (19°01'N, 98° 20'W, 2,225–2,400 m.a.s.l.). The climate is temperate-subhumid with an annual average temperature of 14 to 16 °C and average annual precipitation of 750 to 950 mm. The rainy season occurs during the summer, and the dry season from November to April. The soil type is mainly lithosol and cambisol (Costes-Quijano et al., 2006). Its vegetation is composed of oak forest (41.71% of the park's surface), secondarily induced grassland (16.25%), and abandoned eucalyptus plantations (1.52%); the remaining 40.52% of the surface consists of thorny scrub and urban areas (Costes Quijano et al., 2006).
Ant sampling
Ant sampling was conducted in FBSP at six sampling events during the dry and rainy seasons, covering ten years. The sampling years were 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2017 (Table 1). Oak forests and induced grasslands were included in each sampling event. Pitfall traps were placed in transects. S1 shows the coordinates of transects used in this study. The number of transects, pitfall traps, and distances between them varied depending on the year, but samplings generally kept the same basic characteristics (type of trap, vegetation type, season, Table 1). At each site, 10-20 pitfall traps were placed per transect (spaced 5-20 m apart). Pitfall traps remained in the ground for 48-96 h. In total, data was obtained from 1,080 pitfalls during the ten-year period. Ants collected from pitfall traps were stored in 70% ethanol and taken to the laboratory for identification. Ants were identified to the genus level using taxonomic keys. Specimens were sent to the following specialists for their identification: L. Quiroz, J. E. Valenzuela, G. R. Pérez-Toledo (Instituto de Ecología, A.C.), and W. Mackay (the University of Texas, Laboratory for Environmental Biology Centennial Museum). Ant specimens are kept in the UDLAP Formicidae and IEXA collections. The Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT) (Bureau of Environment and Natural Resources) approved the collection permit for this study SGPA/DGV/06901/15.
Costes-Quijano, R., Meza, A. R., Macías-Juárez, A., Berriel-Mastreta, C. A., Cortés-Atílano, B., Martínez-Romero, L. E., & Hernández-Bautista, R. (2006). Plan de manejo parque ecológico recreativo General Lázaro Cárdenas Flor del Bosque. Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. Gobierno Del Estado de Puebla, Puebla.