Staff View: Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests

Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests

The impacts of urban forest fragmentation on tropical ant foraging activity are poorly understood. The Malaysian giant ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) is among the largest ant species worldwide. Colonies of this species contribute to important ecosystem processes such as predation and nutrient cycling in the...

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Main Authors:	Azhar, Badrul, Razi, Norhisham, Sanusi, Ruzana, Lechner, Alex, Ashraf, Mohamad, Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat, Jafni, Farhan
Format:	Article
Published:	John Wiley and Sons 2024
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/112049/ https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12724
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spelling	my.upm.eprints.1120492024-10-28T03:55:15Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/112049/ Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests Azhar, Badrul Razi, Norhisham Sanusi, Ruzana Lechner, Alex Ashraf, Mohamad Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat Jafni, Farhan The impacts of urban forest fragmentation on tropical ant foraging activity are poorly understood. The Malaysian giant ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) is among the largest ant species worldwide. Colonies of this species contribute to important ecosystem processes such as predation and nutrient cycling in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Here, we compared the diurnal foraging activity of D. gigas workers in urban-fragmented and contiguous forests, and investigated how this was shaped by key environmental factors such as vegetation structure and microclimate. Specifically, we sampled ground-foraging D. gigas workers in four urban/semi-urban forest patches and two contiguous forests in Peninsular Malaysia across the wet and dry seasons. Surprisingly, we found that some urban forest patches, irrespective of area, supported greater foraging activity of D. gigas workers than contiguous forests. These differences in foraging activity were explained by differences in multiple stand-level variables between urban forests patches and contiguous forests. Specifically, the abundance of foraging D. gigas workers increased with number of trees with Diamater at breast height (DBH) 5–30 cm, but it decreased with relative humidity, canopy cover, number of palms, number of shrubs and trees with DBH <5 cm. Our study highlights the importance of urban forest patches, microclimate and vegetation structure for driving the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant. Small and relatively large forest patches were of comparable importance for the maintenance of biodiversity in urban landscapes. In the absence of landscape connectivity, reforestation is the most feasible option to restore the natural habitat of D. gigas in urban forest patches and mitigate microclimatic edge effects. © 2024 Royal Entomological Society. John Wiley and Sons 2024 Article PeerReviewed Azhar, Badrul and Razi, Norhisham and Sanusi, Ruzana and Lechner, Alex and Ashraf, Mohamad and Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat and Jafni, Farhan (2024) Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 17 (2). pp. 334-344. ISSN 1752-458X; eISSN: 1752-4598 https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12724 10.1111/icad.12724
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
building	UPM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source	UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
description	The impacts of urban forest fragmentation on tropical ant foraging activity are poorly understood. The Malaysian giant ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) is among the largest ant species worldwide. Colonies of this species contribute to important ecosystem processes such as predation and nutrient cycling in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Here, we compared the diurnal foraging activity of D. gigas workers in urban-fragmented and contiguous forests, and investigated how this was shaped by key environmental factors such as vegetation structure and microclimate. Specifically, we sampled ground-foraging D. gigas workers in four urban/semi-urban forest patches and two contiguous forests in Peninsular Malaysia across the wet and dry seasons. Surprisingly, we found that some urban forest patches, irrespective of area, supported greater foraging activity of D. gigas workers than contiguous forests. These differences in foraging activity were explained by differences in multiple stand-level variables between urban forests patches and contiguous forests. Specifically, the abundance of foraging D. gigas workers increased with number of trees with Diamater at breast height (DBH) 5–30 cm, but it decreased with relative humidity, canopy cover, number of palms, number of shrubs and trees with DBH <5 cm. Our study highlights the importance of urban forest patches, microclimate and vegetation structure for driving the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant. Small and relatively large forest patches were of comparable importance for the maintenance of biodiversity in urban landscapes. In the absence of landscape connectivity, reforestation is the most feasible option to restore the natural habitat of D. gigas in urban forest patches and mitigate microclimatic edge effects. © 2024 Royal Entomological Society.
format	Article
author	Azhar, Badrul Razi, Norhisham Sanusi, Ruzana Lechner, Alex Ashraf, Mohamad Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat Jafni, Farhan
spellingShingle	Azhar, Badrul Razi, Norhisham Sanusi, Ruzana Lechner, Alex Ashraf, Mohamad Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat Jafni, Farhan Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
author_facet	Azhar, Badrul Razi, Norhisham Sanusi, Ruzana Lechner, Alex Ashraf, Mohamad Wan Zaki, Wan Mamat Jafni, Farhan
author_sort	Azhar, Badrul
title	Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
title_short	Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
title_full	Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
title_fullStr	Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
title_full_unstemmed	Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
title_sort	vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests
publisher	John Wiley and Sons
publishDate	2024
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/112049/ https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12724
_version_	1814936521292120064
score	13.211869

Vegetation structure and relative humidity drive the diurnal foraging activity of Malaysian giant ant workers in urban fragmented forests

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