A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä

Coexistence of territorial competitor ants in fragmented boreal forest landscape




TekijätSorvari, Jouni; Huhta, Esa; Hakkarainen, Harri

KustantajaSpringer

Julkaisuvuosi2024

JournalOecologia

Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimiOecologia

Lehden akronyymiOecologia

Vuosikerta206

Aloitussivu187

Lopetussivu197

ISSN0029-8549

eISSN1432-1939

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-024-05626-8

Verkko-osoitehttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-024-05626-8

Rinnakkaistallenteen osoitehttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/458284817


Tiivistelmä
The distribution of species in a patchy habitat may be influenced by competitive interactions. The dominant and highly competitive boreal ant species belong to the Formica rufa group. A pair of species, Formica aquilonia and Formica polyctena, require extensive territories due to their multi-nest breeding habits. The coexistence and habitat patterns of these two wood ant species in the boreal forest landscape were investigated. Forest characteristics in the vicinity of nests in forest patches were similar for both species, but they did not coexist in the same sampling plots of 0.79 ha in forest patches, indicating competitive exclusion. The sampling plots in large forest patches were more occupied by F. aquilonia, while no such association was found for F. polyctena. At a larger spatial scale (78.5 ha), we found that F. polyctena was more tolerant of smaller forest patches than F. aquilonia suggesting that these two ant species can coexist in moderately fragmented forest landscapes. However, forest habitat loss, fragmentation and climate-induced changes in forest tree structure may shift the species balance in favour of F. polyctena over F. aquilonia in the future.

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Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot
Open access funding provided by Natural Resources Institute Finland. This study was funded by a grant from the Academy of Finland awarded to HH.


Last updated on 2025-12-02 at 09:42