Succession in ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in deciduous forest clear-cuts - an Eastern European case study

Ioan Tausan,Jens Dauber,Balint Marko,Maria R Trica

doi:10.14411/eje.2017.013

Abstract

Clear-cutting, the main method of harvesting in many forests in the world, causes a series of dramatic environmental changes to the forest habitat and removes habitat resources for arboreal and epigeal species. It results in considerable changes in the composition of both plant and animal communities. Ants have many critical roles in the maintenance and functioning of forest ecosystems. Therefore, the response of ants to clear-cutting and the time it takes for an ant community to recover after clear-cutting are important indicators of the effect of this harvesting technique on the forest ecosystem. We investigated ground-dwelling ant communities during secondary succession of deciduous forests in Transylvania, Romania. Using space-for-time substitution, we explored a chronosequence from clear-cuts to mature forests (> 120 years). The object was to determine if cutting has measurable effects on ant community structure, and if ant species richness differs between successional stages. We recorded a total of 24 species of ants, 11 characteristic of forests and seven of open landscape. Ant species richness was higher in clear-cuts compared to closed-canopy and old stands. Number of ant individuals was highest in young age classes and lowest in closed-canopy age classes. There was no drastic change in species richness during the succession, however differences in community composition at different stages were recorded. Open landscape species are able to rapidly colonize following disturbance but disappear when the forest sites mature and many forest ant species are capable of surviving clear cutting.

Highlights

Temperate deciduous forests provide important habitats for a wide range of invertebrate species associated with coarse woody debris, large deciduous trees and dead wood (Niemelä, 1997)
The object was to determine if cutting has measurable effects on ant community structure, and if ant species richness differs between successional stages
The most abundant species collected at the sites studied were Myrmica ruginodis at Dumbrăveni and Myrmica rubra at Cluj-Napoca

Summary

Introduction

Temperate deciduous forests provide important habitats for a wide range of invertebrate species associated with coarse woody debris, large deciduous trees and dead wood (Niemelä, 1997). Temperate deciduous forests are among the most human-disturbed forests in the world, being exploited intensively for timber and biomass (Röhrig & Ulrich, 1991) Habitat disturbances such as fire (Paquine & Coderre, 1997), forest fragmentation (Carvalho & Vasconcelos, 1999), logging and, in particular, clear-cutting (Punttila et al, 1991; Niemelä, 1997) can cause a decline or loss of forest inhabiting vertebrate and invertebrate species. Clear-cutting is the main method of harvesting in many forest regions in the world, especially in North America and Europe (reviewed in Paillet et al, 2010) This results in habitat loss for arboreal species (MacKay et al, 1991), reduces leaf litter (Ash, 1995) and causes environmental changes such as increased insolation of the soil and exposure to wind, leading to reduced quality or even complete loss of habitats for forest floor dwelling species (Kaila et al, 1997; Andersson et al, 2012). Arboreal food resources of relevance to arthropods such as ants are significantly reduced, due to the loss of trees as foraging areas (Sorvari & Hakkarainen, 2009)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion