TY - JOUR
T1 - Ant biodiversity and its environmental predictors in the North Kimberley region of Australia’s seasonal tropics
AU - Cross, Adam T.
AU - Myers, Cecilia
AU - Mitchell, Celia N.A.
AU - Cross, Sophie L.
AU - Jackson, Christopher
AU - Waina, Rowan
AU - Mucina, Ladislav
AU - Dixon, Kingsley W.
AU - Andersen, Alan N.
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - Northern Australia supports the world’s largest estate of undeveloped tropical savannas, but previous studies of ant diversity in the region have covered only a fraction of its land area and habitat diversity. We assess patterns of ant species and functional diversity, their environmental predictors, and biogeographic significance in the central North Kimberley region of Australia’s seasonal tropics. Pitfall traps were used to sample ants at 69 plots in representative savanna habitats, collecting a total of 158 species from 30 genera. Total richness was estimated to be as high as 237 species. At least 29 species across 12 genera appear to have been collected for the first time. Only a single invasive ant was recorded from the study area. Based on cluster analysis we identified six compositionally distinct ant communities, each associated with a combination of vegetation type and underlying geology. Species richness and functional diversity was highest in savanna woodlands and grasslands on sandstone-derived soils, with increasing richness also predicted by a lower mean daily temperature range, a more complex understorey, and lower precipitation seasonality. The abundance of nearly all commonly trapped species was related to temperature, moisture, and habitat variables, although these relationships were highly idiosyncratic. Nearly 40 % of the collected species are known only from the North Kimberley region. The high level of endemism, together with the lack of introduced ant species, identifies the North Kimberley ant fauna as having outstanding biodiversity value. Our identification of ant community types based on mappable soil and vegetation units provides a basis for predicting ant distribution throughout the broader region, and therefore contributing to regional conservation planning and management.
AB - Northern Australia supports the world’s largest estate of undeveloped tropical savannas, but previous studies of ant diversity in the region have covered only a fraction of its land area and habitat diversity. We assess patterns of ant species and functional diversity, their environmental predictors, and biogeographic significance in the central North Kimberley region of Australia’s seasonal tropics. Pitfall traps were used to sample ants at 69 plots in representative savanna habitats, collecting a total of 158 species from 30 genera. Total richness was estimated to be as high as 237 species. At least 29 species across 12 genera appear to have been collected for the first time. Only a single invasive ant was recorded from the study area. Based on cluster analysis we identified six compositionally distinct ant communities, each associated with a combination of vegetation type and underlying geology. Species richness and functional diversity was highest in savanna woodlands and grasslands on sandstone-derived soils, with increasing richness also predicted by a lower mean daily temperature range, a more complex understorey, and lower precipitation seasonality. The abundance of nearly all commonly trapped species was related to temperature, moisture, and habitat variables, although these relationships were highly idiosyncratic. Nearly 40 % of the collected species are known only from the North Kimberley region. The high level of endemism, together with the lack of introduced ant species, identifies the North Kimberley ant fauna as having outstanding biodiversity value. Our identification of ant community types based on mappable soil and vegetation units provides a basis for predicting ant distribution throughout the broader region, and therefore contributing to regional conservation planning and management.
KW - Australian monsoon tropics
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Endemism
KW - Formicidae
KW - Kimberley
KW - Tropical savanna
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84976336872&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10531-016-1154-2
DO - 10.1007/s10531-016-1154-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84976336872
VL - 25
SP - 1727
EP - 1759
JO - Biodiversity and Conservation
JF - Biodiversity and Conservation
SN - 0960-3115
IS - 9
ER -