BIOTA East Africa - Workpackage(s)

Subproject E16: Ant and termite communities along a habitat degradation gradient: patterns and consequences for ecosystem function

Ants and termites are considered keystone organisms of tropical ecosystems. However, the effects of habitat degradation on these organisms and on the ecological functions they perform remained little understood. We study ant and termite communities and their ecology along a land-use gradient (habitat degradation gradient) in western Kenya. The gradient spans habitats ranging from near-natural rainforest to high-intensity agricultural production systems. We use several different methods to describe communities and their ecological functions, e.g. standard sampling protocols, DNA-barcoding, stable isotope analyses, and experiments. Important questions addressed in this project are: To which degree do ant and termite communities change from natural rainforest to agricultural production systems? May low-intensity agricultural production systems help to conserve the diversity of forest species? Do predacious ant species disappear with increasing land-use intensity and does this have an effect on predation rates and pest control? Does land-use intensification lead to a decrease of termite diversity and does this affect decomposition rates in ecosystems?