Publication Date:
2008-01-25
Description:
Although sometimes difficult to measure at large scales, spatial pattern is important in natural biological spaces as a determinant of key ecological properties such as species diversity, stability, resiliency and others. Here we demonstrate, at a large spatial scale, that a common species of tropical arboreal ant forms clusters of nests through a combination of local satellite colony formation and density-dependent control by natural enemies, mainly a parasitic fly. Cluster sizes fall off as a power law consistent with a so-called robust critical state. This endogenous cluster formation at a critical state is a unique example of an insect population forming a non-random pattern at a large spatial scale. Furthermore, because the species is a keystone of a larger network that contributes to the ecosystem function of pest control, this is an example of how spatial dynamics at a large scale can affect ecosystem service at a local level.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Vandermeer, John -- Perfecto, Ivette -- Philpott, Stacy M -- England -- Nature. 2008 Jan 24;451(7177):457-9. doi: 10.1038/nature06477.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kraus Natural Science Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. jvander@umich.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18216853" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
*Agriculture
;
Animals
;
Ants/parasitology/*physiology
;
Coffee/parasitology/physiology
;
*Ecosystem
;
Female
;
Mexico
;
Pest Control, Biological
;
Population Density
;
Survival Rate
;
Time Factors
;
Trees/parasitology/physiology
;
*Tropical Climate
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
