Alcantara, M.J.M., Modi, S., Ling, T.C., Monkai, J., Xu, H., Huang, S. & Nakamura, A.

Differences in geographic distribution of ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) between forests and rubber plantations: a case study in Xishuangbanna, China, and a global meta-analysis

Rubber plantation is the most important commercial monoculture crop in northern Southeast Asia. Despite the large number of studies documenting the biological impacts of rubber plantations, most focus on changes in overall diversity, and little attention has been paid to other ecological aspects such as biogeographic affinities. Rubber cultivation, like other human-induced disturbances, non-randomly selects for species that can colonize altered environments or have generalized habitat requirements. Consequently, species in rubber plantations are expected to have broader geographic ranges than species in undisturbed habitats. To test this, we used an online database (antmaps.org) to compare the geographic distribution of ants in major habitat types (rainforest, limestone forest, and rubber plantation) in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. Additionally, we conducted a meta-analysis of 24 other papers and compared the geographic distribution of ants in primary and secondary forests, and rubber plantations. Our results showed that rubber-plantation ants had, on average, wider geographic distributions, compared with rainforest and limestone-forest ants in Xishuangbanna. The same distributional pattern was observed from the global meta-analysis. Species that were characteristic of rubber plantations occupied wider geographic distributions than primary-forest ants, while secondary forest ants had intermediate geographic distributions. However, when only native ants were analyzed, geographic distributions did not vary among the three habitats. Our results show that forest conversion to monoculture rubber plantations replaces habitat specialist species with non-native generalists which have broader geographic distributions. This replacement by generalists results in homogenization of ants in disturbed habitats, which may alter ecosystem functions and services.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2019 The Author(s).

Alcantara, M.J.M., Modi, S., Ling, T.C., Monkai, J., Xu, H., Huang, S. & Nakamura, A.

Differences in geographic distribution of ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) between forests and rubber plantations: a case study in Xishuangbanna, China, and a global meta-analysis

Rubber plantation is the most important commercial monoculture crop in northern Southeast Asia. Despite the large number of studies documenting the biological impacts of rubber plantations, most focus on changes in overall diversity, and little attention has been paid to other ecological aspects such as biogeographic affinities. Rubber cultivation, like other human-induced disturbances, non-randomly selects for species that can colonize altered environments or have generalized habitat requirements. Consequently, species in rubber plantations are expected to have broader geographic ranges than species in undisturbed habitats. To test this, we used an online database (antmaps.org) to compare the geographic distribution of ants in major habitat types (rainforest, limestone forest, and rubber plantation) in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. Additionally, we conducted a meta-analysis of 24 other papers and compared the geographic distribution of ants in primary and secondary forests, and rubber plantations. Our results showed that rubber-plantation ants had, on average, wider geographic distributions, compared with rainforest and limestone-forest ants in Xishuangbanna. The same distributional pattern was observed from the global meta-analysis. Species that were characteristic of rubber plantations occupied wider geographic distributions than primary-forest ants, while secondary forest ants had intermediate geographic distributions. However, when only native ants were analyzed, geographic distributions did not vary among the three habitats. Our results show that forest conversion to monoculture rubber plantations replaces habitat specialist species with non-native generalists which have broader geographic distributions. This replacement by generalists results in homogenization of ants in disturbed habitats, which may alter ecosystem functions and services.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2019 The Author(s).