Figure 1.
Arrangement of 25 cm2 quadrat samples within 100 m2 plots.
Table 1.
Species of ants and termites captured at the four study sites.
Figure 2.
Macroinvertebrate biomass and abundance varied across sites, taxa, and habitats.
(A) Average number of non-social invertebrates (not including ants and termites) and social insects (ants and termites) m−2 in litter samples and (B) in coarse woody material (CWM) samples. Average ants and termites m−2 differed among some sites in litter samples (A) but not in CWM (B). (C) Average dry mass of non-social invertebrates and social insects m−2 in all litter samples and (D) in CWM samples. Social insects were more abundant in San Felasco in litter samples (C) while non-social invertebrates only varied among some sites in CWM samples (D). In combined litter and CWM samples, the abundance (E) of both groups varied among sites, while only social insects varied in biomass (F). In both cases, the southern sites had higher numbers and masses of social insects (E and F). Points = mean, bars = +/− SE, and whiskers = range. The Y-axis is log10 scaled. Letters above whiskers represent differences revealed through multiple comparisons. Shared letters of the same case (upper vs. lower) indicate no significant differences. Box plots without letters had no significant pairwise difference (Tukey-Kramer adjustment, P>0.05).
Table 2.
The total abundance and dry mass of macroinvertebrates, from all plots, listed alphabetically by Class or Order.
Figure 3.
The location of sample sites and the average abundance m−2
(A) and g dry biomass m−2 (B) of ants and termites in combined litter and CWM samples. San Felasco (Florida) had a much greater abundance and biomass of ants than other sites, while termites did not vary in abundance. (C) The average g dry mass of termites m−3 and (D) the average number of termites m−3 in coarse woody material (CWM) in plots. Termite dry mass and numbers were zero at Yale Myers and did not differ significantly among the other sites. Points = mean, bars = +/− SE, and whiskers = range. The Y-axis is log10 scaled. Percentages above whiskers in (C and D) represent the mean proportion of invertebrate numbers and biomass in CWM that termites comprised. Map image derived from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Eastern_US_range_map_blank.png, created by Alan Rockefeller.
Table 3.
The global reported ranges of numbers of individuals m−2 and biomass m−2 for ecosystem engineers and macroinvertebrates.
Table 4.
The abundance of the most common species of ants and termites collected in each site.
Figure 4.
The myrmecosphere is centered upon ant nests constructed at the soil surface and below ground.
(1) Prey and carrion, plant material, plant and insect exudates are brought into the colony. (2) Below-ground prey and carrion, plant material, plant and animal exudates are brought into the colony. (3) Materials brought into the colony are assimilated into the soil over time. (4) Feces, saliva, and other excretions are produced within the colony. (5) Soil, corpses, and midden material are returned to the soil surface.