Abstract
Red wood ants (RWA) of the Formica rufa group are ecosystem engineers and important species in boreal and temperate forests. However, the permanent and temporal loss of forest habitats is a serious threat to their existence and is likely to increase with climate change. Due to the current threat of losing species, quick actions are needed. Reported here is the biogeography, relative abundance and habitat preferences of five species of RWA in Finland based on citizen science data. Species that occur in the lowlands of the Alps also occur throughout the southern parts of Finland. Only two of the five species, F. aquilonia Yarrow, 1955 and F. lugubris Zetterstedt, 1838, were common throughout the country, including northern Lapland. As their name suggests, RWAs occur mostly in forests and forest edges, but they also sometimes inhabit open or semi-open yards, mires and meadows. The most forest-specialist species is F. aquilonia and the least F. rufa Linnaeus, 1761. Surprisingly, the meadow wood ant F. pratensis Retzius, 1783 is the second most forest dwelling species, however, its preference for forest edges is clearly higher than for forest interiors. Based on current data, F. rufa may be the most tolerant of living close to buildings as its relative abundance in yards was much higher than that of the other species. The data obtained on distributions and relative abundances could be compared in the future with the results of similar surveys to detect changes in species distributions, relative abundances and habitat preferences.
Highlights
The red wood ants of F. rufa group (RWA) are ecosystem engineers as they change their habitat by collecting organic nest material and altering soil properties (Frouz et al, 2016)
Two of the Formica rufa group samples were not possible to identify at the species level because they were visually intermediate between F. aquilonia and F. polyctena
The relative abundances of the polydomous species pair F. aquilonia and F. polyctena across the zones differed significantly as the relative abundance of F. aquilonia compared to F. polyctena was higher in all zones, being almost 100% in the three northernmost zones (G2 = 196.87, df = 4, p < 0.0001; Fig. 3A)
Summary
The red wood ants of F. rufa group (RWA) are ecosystem engineers as they change their habitat by collecting organic nest material and altering soil properties (Frouz et al, 2016). RWAs are important umbrella species since their nests are habitats for a vast number of insects and other arthropods (Robinson et al, 2016); RWAs and their nest mounds should be considered in biodiversity conservation programmes. Clear-cut areas are planted with new, usually a monoculture of seedlings; the habitat loss is partly temporal. Clear-cutting has resulted in severe harm to local RWAs as the main source of food, canopy-dwelling aphids and their excreta and prey arthropods (hunting mainly in trees; see Lenoir, 2003), are lost with logging. The changed microclimate adversely affects the thermoregulation of RWA mounds that are built for a shaded forest environment (Sorvari et al, 2016). As a result of the dramatic habitat change, local populations decrease rapidly after logging (Sorvari & Hakkarainen, 2007)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
