- Award ID(s):
- 1651283
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10037177
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Functional Ecology
- Volume:
- 31
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0269-8463
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1231 to 1240
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Ants alter soil moisture and nutrient distributions during foraging and nest construction. Here, we investigated how the effects of ants on soil vary with elevation. We compared moisture, carbon, and nitrogen levels in soil samples taken both within nests and nearby the nests (control) of two subterranean ant species. Using a paired design, we sampled 17 sites along elevation gradients in two California mountain ranges (
Formica francoeuri in the San Jacinto mountains andFormica sibylla in the Sierra Nevada). We observed an interaction between soil carbon and nitrogen composition and elevation in each mountain range. At lower elevations, nest soil had lower amounts of carbon and nitrogen than control soil, but at higher elevations, nest soil had higher amounts of carbon and nitrogen than control soil. However, our sampling method may only breach the interior of ant nests in some environments. The nest soil moisture did not show any elevational patterns in either mountain range. Ants likely modulate soil properties differently across environmental gradients, but testing this effect must account for variable nest architecture and other climate and landscape differences across diverse habitats.