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Title: Enclosed nests may provide greater thermal than nest predation benefits compared with open nests across latitudes
Award ID(s):
1651283
NSF-PAR ID:
10037177
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;
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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  1. 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 francoeuriin the San Jacinto mountains andFormica sibyllain 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.

     
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