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Patterns of Nested Dispersion in a Tropical Ground Ant Community
Author(s) -
Levings Sally C.,
Franks Nigel R.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1938951
Subject(s) - interspecific competition , ecology , nest (protein structural motif) , biology , predation , overdispersion , competition (biology) , geography , population , biochemistry , poisson regression , demography , sociology
Ant nests are frequently reported to be overdispersed. Less commonly, interspecific interactions have been shown to affect nest spacing. We here report on the pattern of dispersion of 15 ground ant species in four plots located on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. All plots showed significant evidence of both intra— and interspecific overdispersion. We hypothesize that the observed pattern of dispersion is the result of competition among all members of this set of species with similar requirements. Mechanisms which could produce this pattern are nest movement and the preferential predation on conspecific founding queens and incipient colonies by established colonies.