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Survival of transplanted nests of the red wood ant Formica aquilonia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): The effects of intraspecific competition and forest clear‐cutting
Author(s) -
Sorvari Jouni,
Huhta Esa,
Hakkarainen Harri
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
insect science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1744-7917
pISSN - 1672-9609
DOI - 10.1111/1744-7917.12043
Subject(s) - intraspecific competition , biology , interspecific competition , competition (biology) , habitat , hymenoptera , ecology
The fitness and survival of ant colonies depend on the resources near their nests. These resources may be limited due to poor habitat quality or by intra‐ and interspecific competitions, which in extreme cases may cause the ant colony to perish. We tested the effect of intraspecific competition and habitat degradation (forest clear‐cutting) on colony survival by transplanting 26 nests of the red wood ant ( Formica aquilonia Yarrow, 1955) in 26 different forest areas that contained 0–11 conspecific alien nests per hectare. F. aquilonia is highly dependent on canopy‐dwelling aphids, thus the removal of trees should cause food limitation. During the course of the 4‐year experiment, 9 of the forests were partially clear‐cut. We found that while forest clear‐cutting significantly decreased the colonies’ survival, intraspecific competition did not. As a highly polygynous and polydomous species, F. aquilonia seems to tolerate the presence of alien conspecific colonies to a certain extent.