Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands
Whereas bait and pitfall trappings are two of the most commonly used techniques for sampling ant assemblages, they have not been properly compared in temperate open habitats. In this study, taking advantage of a large-scale project of heathland restoration (three sites along the French Atlantic Coas...
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doaj-21711c3e3fc54f52befc56e31d28ff222021-03-30T23:06:16ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-03-011230730710.3390/insects12040307Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate HeathlandsAxel Hacala0Clément Gouraud1Wouter Dekoninck2Julien Pétillon3UMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, Université de Rennes, 263 Avenue du Gal Leclerc, CS 74205, CEDEX, 35042 Rennes, FranceUMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, Université de Rennes, 263 Avenue du Gal Leclerc, CS 74205, CEDEX, 35042 Rennes, FranceRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, BelgiumUMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, Université de Rennes, 263 Avenue du Gal Leclerc, CS 74205, CEDEX, 35042 Rennes, FranceWhereas bait and pitfall trappings are two of the most commonly used techniques for sampling ant assemblages, they have not been properly compared in temperate open habitats. In this study, taking advantage of a large-scale project of heathland restoration (three sites along the French Atlantic Coast forming a north-south gradient), we evaluated the relative efficiency of these two methods for assessing both taxonomic and functional diversities of ants. Ants were collected and identified to species level, and six traits related to morphology, behavior (diet, dispersal and maximum foraging distance), and social life (colony size and dominance type) were attributed to all 23 species. Both observed and estimated species richness were significantly higher in pitfalls compared to spatially pair-matched bait traps. Functional richness followed the same pattern, with consistent results for both community weighted mean (CWM) and Rao’s quadratic entropy. Taxonomic and functional diversities from pitfall assemblages increased from north to south locations, following a pattern frequently reported at larger spatial scales. Bait trapping can hardly be considered a complementary method to pitfall trapping for sampling ants in open temperate habitats, as it appears basically redundant with the latter sampling method, at least in coastal heathlands of the East-Atlantic coast.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/307sampling methodestimated richnessfunctional diversitymaritime cliffsWestern FranceFormicidae |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Axel Hacala Clément Gouraud Wouter Dekoninck Julien Pétillon |
spellingShingle |
Axel Hacala Clément Gouraud Wouter Dekoninck Julien Pétillon Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands Insects sampling method estimated richness functional diversity maritime cliffs Western France Formicidae |
author_facet |
Axel Hacala Clément Gouraud Wouter Dekoninck Julien Pétillon |
author_sort |
Axel Hacala |
title |
Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands |
title_short |
Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands |
title_full |
Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands |
title_fullStr |
Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relative Efficiency of Pitfall vs. Bait Trapping for Capturing Taxonomic and Functional Diversities of Ant Assemblages in Temperate Heathlands |
title_sort |
relative efficiency of pitfall vs. bait trapping for capturing taxonomic and functional diversities of ant assemblages in temperate heathlands |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Insects |
issn |
2075-4450 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Whereas bait and pitfall trappings are two of the most commonly used techniques for sampling ant assemblages, they have not been properly compared in temperate open habitats. In this study, taking advantage of a large-scale project of heathland restoration (three sites along the French Atlantic Coast forming a north-south gradient), we evaluated the relative efficiency of these two methods for assessing both taxonomic and functional diversities of ants. Ants were collected and identified to species level, and six traits related to morphology, behavior (diet, dispersal and maximum foraging distance), and social life (colony size and dominance type) were attributed to all 23 species. Both observed and estimated species richness were significantly higher in pitfalls compared to spatially pair-matched bait traps. Functional richness followed the same pattern, with consistent results for both community weighted mean (CWM) and Rao’s quadratic entropy. Taxonomic and functional diversities from pitfall assemblages increased from north to south locations, following a pattern frequently reported at larger spatial scales. Bait trapping can hardly be considered a complementary method to pitfall trapping for sampling ants in open temperate habitats, as it appears basically redundant with the latter sampling method, at least in coastal heathlands of the East-Atlantic coast. |
topic |
sampling method estimated richness functional diversity maritime cliffs Western France Formicidae |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/307 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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