Similarity of ant communities increases with isolation from natural habitat and abundance of invasive ants in oil palm plantations of Central Borneo

Abstract

Natural habitats can support insect diversity and shape their community structure in agroecosystems. The objective of this research was to investigate how proximity of natural habitat and invasive ant species influences the community structure of ants in oil palm plantations in Central Borneo, Indonesia. Twelve oil palm fields, at varying distances from areas of remaining forest or natural habitat, were selected as research plots. In each plot, insects were sampled using canopy knockdown fogging with a pyrethroid insecticide. In total, we found 62 canopy ant species belonging to six subfamilies. We found that Anoplolepis gracilipes (invasive species) and Oecophylla smaragdina were the most abundant ant species across all of our plots, and their abundances were not spatially correlated. Distance of oil palm fields to natural habitat did not affect species richness and abundance of ants, but affected ant community similarity. Based on the generalized linear models, the ant community similarity was not only affected by the distance to natural habitat but also affected by the abundance of A. gracilipes. A. gracilipes abundance also had a negative effect on other ant abundance especially O. smaragdina. In conclusion, the occurrence of natural habitats helps shape the similarity of ant community in oil palm plantations possibly via inhibits the abundance of invasive species.