Dataset Information

Ants as ecological indicators of rainforest restoration: Community convergence and the development of an Ant Forest Indicator Index in the Australian wet tropics.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystem restoration can help reverse biodiversity loss, but whether faunal communities of forests undergoing restoration converge with those of primary forest over time remains contentious. There is a need to develop faunal indicators of restoration success that more comprehensively reflect changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function. Ants are an ecologically dominant faunal group and are widely advocated as ecological indicators. We examine ant species and functional group responses on a chronosequence of rainforest restoration in northern Australia, and develop a novel method for selecting and using indicator species. Four sampling techniques were used to survey ants at 48 sites, from grassland, through various ages (1-24 years) of restoration plantings, to mature forest. From principal components analysis of seven vegetation metrics, we derived a Forest Development Index (FDI) of vegetation change along the chronosequence. A novel Ant Forest Indicator Index (AFII), based on the occurrences of ten key indicator species associated with either grassland or mature forest, was used to assess ant community change with forest restoration. Grasslands and mature forests supported compositionally distinct ant communities at both species and functional levels. The AFII was strongly correlated with forest development (FDI). At forest restoration sites older than 5-10 years that had a relatively closed canopy, ant communities converged on those of mature rainforest, indicating a promising restoration trajectory for fauna as well as plants. Our findings reinforce the utility of ants as ecological indicators and emphasize the importance of restoration methods that achieve rapid closed-canopy conditions. The novel AFII assessed restoration status from diverse and patchily distributed species, closely tracking ant community succession using comprehensive species-level data. It has wide applicability for assessing forest restoration in a way that is relatively independent of sampling methodology and intensity, and without a need for new comparative data from reference sites.

SUBMITTER: Lawes MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5648658 | biostudies-other | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Ants as ecological indicators of rainforest restoration: Community convergence and the development of an Ant Forest Indicator Index in the Australian wet tropics.

Lawes Michael J MJ Moore Anthony M AM Andersen Alan N AN Preece Noel D ND Franklin Donald C DC

Ecology and evolution 20170912 20

Ecosystem restoration can help reverse biodiversity loss, but whether faunal communities of forests undergoing restoration converge with those of primary forest over time remains contentious. There is a need to develop faunal indicators of restoration success that more comprehensively reflect changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function. Ants are an ecologically dominant faunal group and are widely advocated as ecological indicators. We examine ant species and functional group responses on a c ...[more]

PMID: 29075461

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Project description:Invasive mesopredators are responsible for the decline of many species of native mammals worldwide. Feral cats have been causally linked to multiple extinctions of Australian mammals since European colonization. While feral cats are found throughout Australia, most research has been undertaken in arid habitats, thus there is a limited understanding of feral cat distribution, abundance, and ecology in Australian tropical rainforests. We carried out camera-trapping surveys at 108 locations across seven study sites, spanning 200 km in the Australian Wet Tropics. Single-species occupancy analysis was implemented to investigate how environmental factors influence feral cat distribution. Feral cats were detected at a rate of 5.09 photographs/100 days, 11 times higher than previously recorded in the Australian Wet Tropics. The main environmental factors influencing feral cat occupancy were a positive association with terrain ruggedness, a negative association with elevation, and a higher affinity for rainforest than eucalypt forest. These findings were consistent with other studies on feral cat ecology but differed from similar surveys in Australia. Increasingly harsh and consistently wet weather conditions at higher elevations, and improved shelter in topographically complex habitats may drive cat preference for lowland rainforest. Feral cats were positively associated with roads, supporting the theory that roads facilitate access and colonization of feral cats within more remote parts of the rainforest. Higher elevation rainforests with no roads could act as refugia for native prey species within the critical weight range. Regular monitoring of existing roads should be implemented to monitor feral cats, and new linear infrastructure should be limited to prevent encroachment into these areas. This is pertinent as climate change modeling suggests that habitats at higher elevations will become similar to lower elevations, potentially making the environment more suitable for feral cat populations.

Dataset Information

Ants as ecological indicators of rainforest restoration: Community convergence and the development of an Ant Forest Indicator Index in the Australian wet tropics.

Publications

Ants as ecological indicators of rainforest restoration: Community convergence and the development of an Ant Forest Indicator Index in the Australian wet tropics.

Similar Datasets

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