Environmental determinants of leaf-litter ant community composition along an elevational gradient
Data files
Aug 20, 2020 version files 11.08 KB
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Occu_plot_IT_080120.csv
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Aug 24, 2020 version files 49.99 KB
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data_env_ITOUPE.xlsx
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Occu_plot_IT_080120.csv
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traits_mean_by_species_IT.xlsx
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Abstract
Ant communities are extremely diverse and provide a wide variety
of ecological functions in tropical forests. Here we investigated the
abiotic factors driving ant composition turnover across an elevational
gradient at Mont Itoupé, French Guiana. Mont Itoupé is an isolated mountain
whose top is covered by cloud forests, a biogeographical rarity that is
likely to be threatened according to climate change scenarios in the
region. We examined the influence of six soil, climatic and LiDAR-derived
vegetation structure variables on leaf-litter ant assembly (267 species)
across nine 0.12-ha plots disposed at three elevations (ca. 400, 600 and
800m asl). We tested (a) whether species co-occurring within a same plot or
a same elevation were more similar in terms of taxonomic, functional and
phylogenetic composition, than species from different plots/elevations, and
(b) which environmental variables significantly explained compositional
turnover among plots. We found that the distribution of species and traits
of ant communities along the elevational gradient was significantly
explained by a turnover of environmental conditions, particularly in soil
phosphorus and sand content, canopy height and mean annual relative
humidity of soil. Our results shed light on the role exerted by
environmental filtering in shaping ant community assembly in tropical
forests. Identifying the environmental determinants of ant species
distribution along tropical elevational gradients could help predicting the
future impacts of global warming on biodiversity organization in vulnerable
environments such as cloud forests.