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<p>The distribution of many social insect species is shaped by competition and habitat. In ants, food competition is often driven by the activity patterns of colonies and the interspecific variance in dominance–discovery trade-off. In tropical rainforests, several ant species with polydomous super-colonies maintain mutually exclusive territories but coexist with many subordinate species. How the interplay of temporal and environmental factors affects this dominance structure is little known. Here, we focussed on two such super-colonial territories in New Guinea: (i) of the native species <i>Crematogaster polita</i> in a primary forest and (ii) the invasive species <i>Anoplolepis gracilipes</i> in a nearby secondary forest. We used nutrient-rich baits to attract ants in each territory and analysed the changes in their communities, in terms of species richness, forager abundance, and dominance structure between strata (trees and ground) and at two time scales (exposure for 60 and 180&#xa0;min and during day and night). The ant communities and their competitive structure at baits differed most strongly between the strata, whereas the two temporal scales had a weak effect&#xa0;in both territories. However, the dominance of <i>A. gracilipes</i> was much higher in both strata and relatively stable over time, in contrast to the native species community, where the monopolisation of baits by <i>C. polita</i> on trees showed a decreasing tendency at 60&#xa0;min and at night. Overall, our study provides evidence for cathemeral activity of these super-abundant ants, but little support for the dominance–discovery trade-off on food resources as a mechanism of interspecific coexistence.</p>

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Ant activity and interspecific competition in territories of tropical dominant species are more strongly affected by forest stratum than diel period or bait exposure time

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年9月30日

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  • N.-C. Schumacher,
  • M. Brožák,
  • P. Fibich,
  • P. O. Hoenle,
  • C. Idigel,
  • P. Klimeš

摘要

The distribution of many social insect species is shaped by competition and habitat. In ants, food competition is often driven by the activity patterns of colonies and the interspecific variance in dominance–discovery trade-off. In tropical rainforests, several ant species with polydomous super-colonies maintain mutually exclusive territories but coexist with many subordinate species. How the interplay of temporal and environmental factors affects this dominance structure is little known. Here, we focussed on two such super-colonial territories in New Guinea: (i) of the native species Crematogaster polita in a primary forest and (ii) the invasive species Anoplolepis gracilipes in a nearby secondary forest. We used nutrient-rich baits to attract ants in each territory and analysed the changes in their communities, in terms of species richness, forager abundance, and dominance structure between strata (trees and ground) and at two time scales (exposure for 60 and 180 min and during day and night). The ant communities and their competitive structure at baits differed most strongly between the strata, whereas the two temporal scales had a weak effect in both territories. However, the dominance of A. gracilipes was much higher in both strata and relatively stable over time, in contrast to the native species community, where the monopolisation of baits by C. polita on trees showed a decreasing tendency at 60 min and at night. Overall, our study provides evidence for cathemeral activity of these super-abundant ants, but little support for the dominance–discovery trade-off on food resources as a mechanism of interspecific coexistence.