Effects of Harvester Ants’ Nest Activity (Messor spp.) on Structure and Function of Plant Community in a Steppe Rangeland (Case Study: Roodshoor, Saveh, Iran)

Journal of Rangeland Science

مقاله 4، دوره 5، شماره 4، دی 2015، صفحه 269-283   

نویسندگان

Mahsa Ghobadi^{* 1}؛ Donat Agosti²؛ Mohammad Mahdavi³؛ Mohammad Hassan Jouri³

¹M.Sc. of Rangeland Management, Islamic Azad University, Nour Branch, Mazandaran, Iran

²Research Associate, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York

³Faculty Member, Department of Rangeland Management, Islamic Azad University, Nour Branch, Mazandaran, Iran

چکیده

Harvester ants are known as one of the most renowned bio-disturbances in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems that affecte vegetation by collecting seeds and harvesting plants. It seems that physiognomy of plant association in steppe shrub land of Roodshoor, Saveh, Iran has been highly changed by harvester ants’ activities that caused to conduct this research. The study was carried out on active and inactive nests and control site from June to August 2012. Diversity indices and functional groups such as vegetative form, longevity, and photosynthesis type were analyzed as compared to criteria in three sites. Results showed that richness, diversity, and vegetation cover in the ant colonies through increasing the annual forbs and rare species (Campanula stricta and Lepidium vesicarium) were more than the control site. For evenness index, however, there was no significant difference between the control and nest sites. In contrast, the function of plant community in the active nests due to the decrease of dominant shrub frequency of the area that is Artimisia siberi by Messor spp. was less than the control site. Low diversity, richness, plant function, and high vegetation cover in inactive nests were also observed as the results of the presence and activities of the ants in the active nests. Hence, the ant activities in the active and inactive nests can bring out micro sites with different plant associations so that regarding high density and quantity of the ant nests in all the area, it can decrease the key plants and change their functions. It therefore will debilitate the stability and function of this rangeland ecosystem.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Harvester ants؛ Plant structure؛ Plant function؛ Rangeland؛ Iran؛ Messor spp

مراجع

Adam, J. H., Mahmud, A. M. & Muslim, N. E. 2007. Cluster analysis on floristic and forest structure of hilly lowland forest in Lak Kawi, Sabah of Malaysia. International Jour. Botany, 3: 351-358.

Alba-Lynn, C. & Detling, J. K. 2008. Interactive disturbance effects of two disparate ecosystem engineers in North American short grass steppe. Oecologia,  157: 269-78.

Agosti, D., Majer, J. D., Alonso, L. E. & Schultz, T. R. 2000. Ants: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Andersen, A., Azca, F. & Division, C. 2000. Seed selection by an exceptionally rich community of harvester ants in the Australian seasonal tropics. Jour. Animal Ecology, 69: 975-984.

Azcárate, F. M. & Begoña, P. 2007. Harvester ants (Messor barbarus) as disturbance agents in Mediterranean grasslands. Jour. Vegetation Science, 18: 103-110.

Beattie, A. J. & Culver, D. C. 1977. The Effects of the mound nests of the ant, Formica obscuripes, on the surrounding vegetation. Am Midl Nat, 97: 390-399.

Bello, N., Casals, P., Leps, J. & Sebastia, M. T. 2009. Relating plant species and functional diversity to community d13C in NE Spain pastures Francesco de Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 131: 303-307.

Bengtsson, J. 1998. Which species? What kind of diversity? Which ecosystem function? Some problems in studies of relations between biodiversity and ecosystem function. Applied Soil Ecology, 10: 191-199.

Bestelmeyer, B. T., Ward, J. P., Herrick, J. E., & Tugel, A.J. 2006. Fragmentation effects on soil aggregate stability in patchy arid grassland. Rangeland Ecol Manage, 59: 406 – 415.

Brown, J. F. & Human, G. 1997. Effects of harvester ants on plant species distribution and abundance in serpentine grassland. Oecologia, 112: 237-243.

Brown, G., Scherberb, C., Ramos, Jr. & Ebrahimde, E. 2012. The effects of harvester ant (Messor ebeninus Forel) nests on vegetation and soil properties in a desert dwarf shrub community in north-eastern Arabia. Flora, 207: 503-511.

Cammeraat, L. H., Willott, S. J., Compton, S. G. & Incoll, L.D. 2002. The effects of ants’ nests on the physical, chemical and hydrological properties of a rangeland soil in semi-arid Spain. Geoderma, 105: 1-20.

Cannicci, D., Fratini, S., Smith, T. J., Offenberg, J., Dahdouh Guebas, F. & Aquatic, S. 2008. Faunal impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests: A review. Botany, 89: 186-200.

Casanova, L., Ríos, B., Alfonso, V. & Rico-Gray, V. 2006. Ant diversity and its relationship with vegetation and soil factors in an alluvial fan of the Tehuacán Valley, Mexico. Bactaoecologica, 29: 316-323.

Ciesielski, J. 2008. The Effects of Ant Mounds of Acanthomyops claviger on Floral Diversity in a Restored Tallgrass Prairie. ESSAI, 6: 36-40.

Danin, A. & Yom-Tov, Y. 1990. Ant nests as primary habitats of Silybum marianurn (Compositae). Plant Syst, 169: 209-217.

Dauber, J., Rommeler, A. & Wolters, V. 2006. The ant Lasius flavus alters the viable seed bank in pastures. Eur Jour. Soil Biol, 42: 157–163.

Díaz, S. & Cabido, M. 2001. Plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes. Ecology & Evolution, 16: 646-655.

Dostal, P. 2007. Population dynamics of annuals in perennial grassland controlled by ants and environmental stochastic city. Jour. Vegetation Science, 18: 91-102.

Eldridge David J., Walter G. Whitford and Benjamin D. Duval 2009. Animal disturbances promote shrub maintenance in a desertified grassland. Jour. Ecology, 97: 1302–1310.

Fakhimi Abarghoie, E., Mesdaghi, M., Gholami, P. & Naderi Nasrabad, H. 2011. The effect of some topographical properties in plant diversity in Steppic Rangelands of Nodushan, Yazd Province, Iran. Iranian Jour. Range and Desert Research, 18: 42-47, (in Persian).

Farji-Brener, A. G. & Ghermandi, L. 2000. The influence of nests of leaf-cutting ants on plant species diversity in road verges of northern Patagonia. Jour. Veg. Sci. 11: 453-460.

Farji-Brener, A. G. & Ghermandi, L. 2008. Leaf-cutting ant nests near roads increase fitness of exotic plant species in natural protected areas. Proc. R. Soc. 275: 1431-1440.

Fokuhla, G., Heinzeb, J. & Poschloda, P. 2012. Myrmecochory by small ants Beneficial effects through elaiosome nutrition and seed dispersal. Acta. Oecologica, 38: 71-76.

Geldenhuys, C. J. & Murray, B. 1993. Floristic and structural composition of Hanglip forest in lowland Costa Rica. Biotropica, 29: 15-28.

Ginzburg, W.G. & Steinberger, W. 2008. Effects of harvester ant (Messor spp.) activity on soil properties and microbial communities in a Negev desert ecosystem. Bio Fertile soils, 45: 165-173.

Ghahraman, A. & Atar, F. 1999. Plant species diversity of Iran. Tehran University. 1176 pp, (In Persian).

Ghobadi, M., 2013. The effects of harvester ants nests activities (Messor spp.) on some properties of soil and structure and function of plants in steppic rangeland of Roodshoor. Islamic Azad university of Noor, M.Sc. thesis (In Persian).

Hickman. R., David, C., Hartnett‚ C. & Clenton, E. 2004. Grazing management effects on plant species diversity in tall grass prairie. Jour. Range Manag. 57: 58-65.

Hewitt, E., Thrush, S. F. & Dayton, P. D. 2008. Habitat variation, species diversity and ecological functioning in a marine system. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 366: 116-122.

Holldober, B. & Wilson, E. O. 1990. The Ants. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Hooper, D. U. and Vitousek, P. M. 1997. The effects of plant composition and diversity on ecosystem processes. Science, 277: 1302–1305.

Humphries, C. J., Williams, P. H. & Vane-Wright, R.I. 1996. Measuring biodiversity value for conservation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic, 26: 93-111.

James, A. I., Eldridge, D. J., Koen, T. B. & Whitford, W.G. 2008. Landscape position moderates how ant nests affect hydrology and soil chemistry across a Chihuahuan Desert watershed. Landscape Ecol. 23: 961–975.

Jurgens, A., Feldhaar, H., Feldmeyer, B., & Fiala, B. 2006. Chemical composition of leaf volatiles in Macaranga species (Euphorbiaceae) and their potential role as olfactory cues in host-localization of foundress queens of specific ant partners. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 97: 1-13.

King, TJ. 1977. The plant ecology of ant-hills in calcareous grasslands (Patterns of species in relation to ant-hills in southern England). Jour. Ecol. 65: 235-256.

Kirkham, D. & Fisser, H. 1966. Rangeland relations and harvester ants in North central Wyoming . Range Manage. 25: 55-60.

Lesica, P. & Kannowski, P. B. 1998. Ants create hummocks and alter structure and vegetation of a Montana fen. The American Midland Naturalist, 139: 58-69.

Mahdavi, M., Arzani, H. & Jouri, M. H. 2009. Analysis of rangeland conditions changes using of qualitative method of rangeland health. Rangeland Jour. 3: 397-411 (In Persian).

Macmahon, J. A., Mull, J. F., Crist, T. O. 2000. Harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.): their community and ecosystem influences. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic. 31: 265-291.

Macneely, A. 2002. Forest biodiversity at the ecosystem level: where do people fit in? Unasylva. Jour. 53: 10-15.

Malchair, S., De Boeck, H. J., Lemmens, H. M., Ceulemans, R., Merckx, R., Nijs, I. & Carnol, M. 2010. Diversity–function relationship of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in soils among functional groups of grassland species under climate warming. Applied Soil Ecology, 44: 15-23.

Matsuoka, M. & Hata, S. 1987. Comparative Studies of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase from C3 and C4 Plants. Plant Physiol, 85: 947-951.

Mesdaghi, M. 1999. Rangeland & Rangeland management in Iran. Jihad Daneshgahi of Mashhad Press . 280 p. (In Persian).

Mesdaghi, M. 2006. Plant Ecology. Jihad Daneshgahi of Mashhad Press. 187p. (In Persian).

Morawetz, W., Henzl, M. & Wallnöfer, B. 1992. Tree killing by herbicide producing ants for the establishment of pure Tococa occidentalis populations in the Peruvian Amazon. Biodiversity & Conservation. 1: 19-33.

Nicolai, N., Smeins, F. E. & Cook, J. L. 2008. Harvester ant nests improve recovery performance of drought impacted vegetation in grazing regimes of semiarid Savannah, Texas. Midl. Nat. 160: 29-40.

Nowak, R., Nowak, C., De Rocher, T., Cole, N. & Jones, M. 1990. Prevalence of Oryzopsis hymenoides near harvester ant mounds: indirect facilitation by ants. Oikos, 58: 190-198.

Palmer, A. R., Killer, F. J., Avis, A. M., and Tongway, D. J. 2001. Defining function in rangelands of the peddie district, eastern cape, using landscape function analysis. Afr. Jour. Range & Forage Sci, 18: 53-58.

Peters, H. Chiariello, A., Mooney, N. R. H. Levin, A.S.A. & Hartley, A. E. 2005. Native harvester ants threatened with widespread displacement exert localized effects on serpentine grassland plant community composition. Oikos, 109: 351–359.

Ruiz, J. M., & Aide, M. C. 2005. Vegetation structure, species diversity, and ecosystem processes as measures of restoration success. Forest Ecol. Manag. 218: 159-173.

Satti, P., Mazzarino, M., Gobbi, M., Funes, F., Roselli, L. & Fernandez, H. 2003. Soil N dynamics in relation to leaf litter quality and soil fertility in north western Patagonian. forests. Jour. Ecol. 91: 173–181.

Tilman, D., Knops. J., Wedin, D., Reich, P., Ritchie, M. & Siemann, E. 1997. The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition on Ecosystem Processes. Science, 277: 1300-1302.

Thornton, R. C. & Millenbah, K. F. 2000. An evaluation of techniques for tall grass prairie creation, Rose Lake Wildlife research area. Clinton County, Michigan. Michigan Academician, 32: 299-309.

Whitford, W. G. 1988. Effects of harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) nests on soils and a spring annual, Erodium texanum. S. W. Nat. 33: 482-485.

Whitford, W. G., Barness, G. & Steinberger, Y. 2008. Effects of three species of Chihuahuan desert ants on annual plants and soil properties. Jour. Arid Environments, 72: 392-400.

Wilby, A., Shachak, M. & Boeken, B. 2001. Integration of ecosystem engineering and trophic effects of herbivores. Oikos, 92: 436-444.