Succession in ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in deciduous forest clear-cuts - an Eastern European case study

Title:

Succession in ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in deciduous forest clear-cuts - an Eastern European case study

Creator:

Tăuşan, Ioan, Dauber, Jens, Trică, Maria R., and Markó, Bálint

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:7609f7fe-e16b-417d-a167-fe662ac34c5c
uuid:7609f7fe-e16b-417d-a167-fe662ac34c5c
issn:1210-5759
doi:10.14411/eje.2017.013

Subject:

Zoologie, blanokřídlí, mravencovití, opadavé lesy, Hymenoptera, ants, deciduous forests, Formicidae, secondary succession, clear-cutting, community structure, pitfall traps, 2, and 59

Type:

article, články, journal articles, model:article, and TEXT

Format:

print, počítač, and online zdroj

Description:

Clear-cutting, the main method of harvesting in many forests in the world, causes a series of dramatic environmental changes to the forest habitat and removes habitat resources for arboreal and epigeal species. It results in considerable changes in the composition of both plant and animal communities. Ants have many critical roles in the maintenance and functioning of forest ecosystems. Therefore, the response of ants to clear-cutting and the time it takes for an ant community to recover after clear-cutting are important indicators of the effect of this harvesting technique on the forest ecosystem. We investigated ground-dwelling ant communities during secondary succession of deciduous forests in Transylvania, Romania. Using space-for-time substitution, we explored a chronosequence from clear-cuts to mature forests (> 120 years). The object was to determine if cutting has measurable effects on ant community structure, and if ant species richness differs between successional stages. We recorded a total of 24 species of ants, 11 characteristic of forests and seven of open landscape. Ant species richness was higher in clear-cuts compared to closed-canopy and old stands. Number of ant individuals was highest in young age classes and lowest in closed-canopy age classes. There was no drastic change in species richness during the succession, however differences in community composition at different stages were recorded. Open landscape species are able to rapidly colonize following disturbance but disappear when the forest sites mature and many forest ant species are capable of surviving clear cutting., Ioan Tăuşan, Jens Dauber, Maria R. Trică, Bálint Markó., and Obsahuje bibliografii

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
policy:public

Source:

European Journal of Entomology | 2017 Volume:114

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false