Breakdown in seasonal dynamics of subtropical ant communities with land-cover change.

ABSTRACT: Concerns about widespread human-induced declines in insect populations are mounting, yet little is known about how land-use change modifies both the trends and variability of insect communities, particularly in understudied regions. Here, we examine how the seasonal activity patterns of ants-key drivers of terrestrial ecosystem functioning-vary with anthropogenic land-cover change on a subtropical island landscape, and whether differences in temperature or species composition can explain observed patterns. Using trap captures sampled biweekly over 2 years from a biodiversity monitoring network covering Okinawa Island, Japan, we processed 1.2 million individuals and reconstructed activity patterns within and across habitat types. Forest communities exhibited greater temporal variability of

SUBMITTER: Kass JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10565368 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature