A successional shift enhances stability in ant symbiont communities.
Commun Biol
; 7(1): 645, 2024 May 27.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38802499
ABSTRACT
Throughout succession, communities undergo structural shifts, which can alter the relative abundances of species and how they interact. It is frequently asserted that these alterations beget stability, i.e. that succession selects for communities better able to resist perturbations. Yet, whether and how alterations of network structure affect stability during succession in complex communities is rarely studied in natural ecosystems. Here, we explore how network attributes influence stability of different successional stages of a natural network symbiotic arthropod communities forming food webs inside red wood ant nests. We determined the abundance of 16 functional groups within the symbiont community across 51 host nests in the beginning and end stages of succession. Nest age was the main driver of the compositional shifts symbiont communities in old nests contained more even species abundance distributions and a greater proportion of specialists. Based on the abundance data, we reconstructed interaction matrices and food webs of the symbiont community for each nest. We showed that the enhanced community evenness in old nests leads to an augmented food web stability in all but the largest symbiont communities. Overall, this study demonstrates that succession begets stability in a natural ecological network by making the community more even.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Hormigas
/
Simbiosis
/
Cadena Alimentaria
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Commun Biol
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Bélgica
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido