Structure and Diversity of Ant Communities in Successive Coastal Dune Valleys

Abstract

SUMMARY (1) The composition, density and diversity of ant communities, and the potential level of resources supporting the ant communities were compared in three successive dune valleys on the Dutch Wadden island Schiermonnikoog; the three dune valleys 'Strandvlakte' (SV), 'Kobbeduinen' (KBD) and 'Kooiduinen' (KID) represent a pioneer and two advanced stages in primary and secondary succession, respectively. (2) The number of ant species increased from four in Strandvlakte to eleven in Kobbeduinen and eighteen in Kooiduinen. (3) Ant species diversity was positively related to structural diversity of soil and vegetation; a negative relationship was found between ant species diversity and the abundance of the pioneering ant Lasius niger. (4) Rank-abundance curves of ant species in Kobbeduinen and Kooiduinen approximately agreed with lognormal distributions, although a tendency was observed for ant species in Kooiduinen to converge to a broken stick distribution. (5) Microhabitat niche breadth of ant species in the advanced communities Kobbeduinen and Kooiduinen was found to be positively correlated with worker density; this was particularly true in Kobbeduinen, where the highest overall densities of ant workers, root aphids and potential prey (except soil Collembola) were found. (6) In the most diverse but moderately dense Kooiduinen community, only part of the ant species had niche breadths, which were in the same degree proportional to worker density as in Kobbeduinen.