Fire Positively Influences Ant Diversity by Modifying Habitat Openness in an Australian Tropical Savanna

Study Description

We assessed the effects of fire frequency, fire intensity history, and woody cover on the ground-dwelling (i.e., epigeic) ant communities of an Australian tropical savanna. We found that the most important variables in explaining variation in ant diversity were woody cover and fire intensity history. Our results support the hypothesis that the direct effects of fire (i.e., mortality) are weaker than the indirect effects of fire (i.e., modification of habitat structure), especially for savanna ants that can shelter from fire in their underground nests. In fact, open habitats with high fire intensity history generally had more ant species.

Photo 1. Experimental fire with high fire intensity. Photo credit: François Brassard.

Photo 2. Nest of furnace ants (Melophorus sp. 1 rufoniger gp.) following experimental fire. Photo credit: François Brassard.

Photo 3. Close-up on same furnace ant nest, showing workings actively doing nest maintenance following experimental burning. Photo credit: François Brassard.

Photo 4. Furnace ant (Melophorus sp. 1 rufoniger gp.) foraging among burned debris shortly after an experimental fire. Photo credit: François Brassard.

Photo 5. Trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus turneri) foraging among burned debris shortly after an experimental fire. Photo credit: François Brassard.

These photographs illustrate the article “Fire positively influences ant diversity by modifying habitat openness in an Australian tropical savanna” by François Brassard, Magen J. Pettit, Brett P. Murphy, and Alan N. Andersen published in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4143