Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403767
Research Project: Sustainable Crop Production and Wildland Preservation through the Management, Systematics, and Conservation of a Diversity of Bees

Location: Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research

Title: Threats to ant diversity in Mesoamerica. Chapter in: Insect Decline and Conservation in the Neotropics

Author
item LONGINO, JOHN - University Of Utah
item Branstetter, Michael

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2023
Publication Date: 4/22/2024
Citation: Longino, J.T., Branstetter, M.G. 2024. Threats to ant diversity in Mesoamerica. Chapter in: Insect Decline and Conservation in the Neotropics. Book Chapter. pp 251–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49255-6_12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49255-6_12

Interpretive Summary: Ants are an important component of insect diversity in the tropics of Central America, impacting other species in numerous ways. Few studies have carefully measured if ants are in decline or going extinct in the region; however, many ant species are likely of conservation concern. In the book chapter, the authors consider conservation risks to ant species and give examples, focusing on behavioral characteristics, mountaintop specialists, climate change, species with small ranges, and species that are evolutionarily distinct. The resulting chapter provides a useful overview for considering conservation risks to tropical ant species and insects in general.

Technical Abstract: Ants are ecosystem engineers and a major component of the insect fauna in the Neotropics, impacting communities in numerous important ways. Although measurements that would reveal cases of decline or extinction have yet to be made, numerous ant species are of conservation concern. We give examples of four categories: (1) species whose intrinsic behavioral characteristics, such as the large nomadic army ants and ants involved in specialized mutualisms with plants, make them susceptible to extinction; (2) species subject to mountaintop extinction due to climate change; (3) species that have very small geographic ranges (narrow endemics); and (4) species whose phylogenetic distinctness elevates their conservation value.