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Leaf-cutting ants proliferate in the Amazon: an expected response to forest edge?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2011

Christoph Dohm ,
Inara R. Leal ,
Marcello Tabarelli ,
Sebastian T. Meyer  and
Rainer Wirth
Christoph Dohm
Affiliation:
Plant Ecology & Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, P.O. Box 3049, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
Inara R. Leal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/no, 50670-901 Recife, PE, Brazil
Marcello Tabarelli
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/no, 50670-901 Recife, PE, Brazil
Sebastian T. Meyer
Affiliation:
Plant Ecology & Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, P.O. Box 3049, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
Rainer Wirth*
Affiliation:
Plant Ecology & Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, P.O. Box 3049, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: wirth@rhrk.uni-kl.de
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Extract

Habitat fragmentation is gradually altering tropical forests all around the globe (Wright 2005), as human populations convert large blocks of pristine forest habitats into permanently fragmented or human-modified landscapes (Tabarelli et al. 2004). Fragmentation processes apparently create opportunities for small sets of species, which proliferate across modified landscapes, while others are driven to extinction or remain as minimal populations (Tabarelli et al. 2010). This ‘winners vs. losers paradigm’ (sensu McKinney & Lockwood 1999) probably describes one of the most conspicuous rearrangements of tropical biotas in response to human disturbances (in addition to biomass collapse), with unanticipated consequences for ecosystem functioning and long-term biodiversity persistence (Lôbo et al. 2011). Despite such appeal, the ecological identity of proliferating organisms and the mechanisms underlying their high abundance levels remains poorly appreciated.

Keywords

Atta cephalotesAtta laevigataAtta sexdensAttinicolony densitiesedge effectsecosystem engineershabitat fragmentationherbivory
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 645 - 649
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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