Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, Vácrátót, 2163, Hungary.
Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Center for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, Vácrátót, 2163, Hungary.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 25;11(1):20962. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-00385-5.
Fragmented natural habitats within human-transformed landscapes play a key role in preserving biodiversity. Ants as keystone species are essential elements of terrestrial ecosystems; thus, it is important to understand the factors influencing their presence. In a large-scale multi-site study, we surveyed ant assemblages using sweep netting and D-vac sampling on 158 ancient burial mounds preserving grassland habitats in agricultural landscapes in East-Hungary. We asked the following questions: (1) How do habitat factors and landscape composition affect species richness and functional diversity of ants? (2) Which ant traits are affected by habitat factors and landscape composition? Despite their small sizes, mounds as permanent and relatively undisturbed landscape elements could provide safe havens for diverse ant assemblages even in transformed agricultural landscapes. The complex habitat structure of wooded mounds supported high species and functional diversity of ant assemblages. Ant species on wooded mounds had small or medium-sized colonies, enabling the co-existence of more species. The effect of landscape composition on ant assemblages was mediated by habitat factors: steep slopes buffered the negative effect of the cropland matrix and enabled higher ant diversity.
破碎的自然生境在人为改造的景观中起着保护生物多样性的关键作用。蚂蚁作为关键物种是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分；因此，了解影响它们存在的因素非常重要。在一项大规模的多地点研究中，我们使用捕虫网和 D-vac 采样法对 158 个位于匈牙利东部农业景观中的古代古墓进行了蚁类群落调查，这些古墓保留了草原生境。我们提出了以下问题：（1） 生境因素和景观组成如何影响蚂蚁的物种丰富度和功能多样性？（2） 哪些蚂蚁特征受生境因素和景观组成的影响？尽管古墓体积较小，但作为永久性的、相对未受干扰的景观元素，它们可以为多样的蚁类群落提供安全的避难所，即使在经过改造的农业景观中也是如此。树木繁茂的古墓的复杂生境结构支持了蚁类群落的高物种和功能多样性。树木繁茂的古墓上的蚂蚁物种具有小型或中型的群体，使更多的物种能够共存。景观组成对蚁类群落的影响受到生境因素的调节：陡坡缓冲了农田基质的负面影响，使蚂蚁多样性更高。
