Menke Sean B, Gaulke Emilee, Hamel Allison, Vachter Nicole
Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045.
Environ Entomol. 2015 Oct;44(5):1336-47. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvv110. Epub 2015 Jul 15.
North American grassland environments are endangered as a result of degradation and conversion for agriculture and housing. Efforts to manage and restore grasslands have traditionally focused on monitoring plant communities to determine restoration success, but the incorporation of animal communities may provide important benchmarks of ecosystem function and restoration. Ants play many roles in maintaining ecosystem health in temperate grasslands, but relatively little is known about how ant communities respond to restoration. We studied the role that restoration age and prescribed burns have on ant communities in two types of Illinois grasslands, prairies and savannas, and identify indicator species of restoration success. Grassland environments included remnants and restorations that varied in age from newly restored sites, to sites that have been under restoration for >15 yr. We demonstrate that prairie and savanna ant communities are distinct, but respond to restoration in a similar manner. Three distinct prairie ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site-sites <3 yr old, sites that have been under restoration >5 yr, and remnant prairies. Four distinct savanna ant assemblages were identified based on the age of restoration of a site-sites <3 yr old, sites 5-15 yr old, sites >15 yr old, and remnant savanna environments. After accounting for restoration age, time since last burn in both prairie and savannas does not explain community composition or species richness. Several ant species in both prairies and savannas have predictable changes in incidence that indicate their suitability for use as indicator species.
由于农业和住房开发导致的退化和土地用途转变，北美草原环境正面临濒危。传统上，管理和恢复草原的工作主要集中在监测植物群落以确定恢复是否成功，但纳入动物群落可能为生态系统功能和恢复提供重要基准。蚂蚁在维持温带草原生态系统健康方面发挥着多种作用，但对于蚂蚁群落如何响应恢复却知之甚少。我们研究了恢复年限和规定火烧对伊利诺伊州两种草原（大草原和稀树草原）蚂蚁群落的作用，并确定恢复成功的指示物种。草原环境包括从新恢复的地点到已恢复超过15年的地点等不同恢复年限的残留地和恢复地。我们证明，大草原和稀树草原的蚂蚁群落各不相同，但对恢复的响应方式相似。根据地点的恢复年限，确定了三种不同的大草原蚂蚁组合：恢复年限小于3年的地点、恢复年限超过5年的地点以及残留的大草原。根据地点的恢复年限，确定了四种不同的稀树草原蚂蚁组合：恢复年限小于3年的地点、恢复年限为5 - 15年的地点、恢复年限超过15年的地点以及残留的稀树草原环境。在考虑恢复年限后，大草原和稀树草原上次火烧后的时间并不能解释群落组成或物种丰富度。大草原和稀树草原中的几种蚂蚁物种的发生率有可预测的变化，表明它们适合用作指示物种。
