IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-46359-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Non-native ants are breaking down biogeographic boundaries and homogenizing community assemblages

Author

Listed:
  • Lucie Aulus-Giacosa

    (UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne)

  • Sébastien Ollier

    (UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne
    AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution)

  • Cleo Bertelsmeier

    (UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne)

Abstract

As geographic distance increases, species assemblages become more distinct, defining global biogeographic realms with abrupt biogeographic boundaries. Yet, it remains largely unknown to what extent these realms may change because of human-mediated dispersal of species. Focusing on the distributions of 309 non-native ant species, we show that historical biogeographic patterns have already broken down into tropical versus non-tropical regions. Importantly, we demonstrate that these profound changes are not limited to the distribution patterns of non-native ants but fundamentally alter biogeographic boundaries of all ant biodiversity (13,774 species). In total, 52% of ant assemblages have become more similar, supporting a global trend of biotic homogenization. Strikingly, this trend was strongest on islands and in the tropics, which harbor some of the most vulnerable ecosystems. Overall, we show that the pervasive anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity override biogeographic patterns resulting from millions of years of evolution, and disproportionally affect particular regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucie Aulus-Giacosa & Sébastien Ollier & Cleo Bertelsmeier, 2024. "Non-native ants are breaking down biogeographic boundaries and homogenizing community assemblages," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-46359-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46359-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46359-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-46359-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanno Seebens & Tim M. Blackburn & Ellie E. Dyer & Piero Genovesi & Philip E. Hulme & Jonathan M. Jeschke & Shyama Pagad & Petr Pyšek & Marten Winter & Margarita Arianoutsou & Sven Bacher & Bernd Blas, 2017. "No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, April.
    2. Michael Greenacre, 2011. "A Simple Permutation Test for Clusteredness," Working Papers 555, Barcelona School of Economics.
    3. Evan P. Economo & Nitish Narula & Nicholas R. Friedman & Michael D. Weiser & Benoit Guénard, 2018. "Macroecology and macroevolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient in ants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guohuan Su & Adam Mertel & Sébastien Brosse & Justin M. Calabrese, 2023. "Species invasiveness and community invasibility of North American freshwater fish fauna revealed via trait-based analysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Jacob S. Suissa & Fay-Wei Li & Corrie S. Moreau, 2024. "Convergent evolution of fern nectaries facilitated independent recruitment of ant-bodyguards from flowering plants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Paul Battlay & Jonathan Wilson & Vanessa C. Bieker & Christopher Lee & Diana Prapas & Bent Petersen & Sam Craig & Lotte Boheemen & Romain Scalone & Nissanka P. Silva & Amit Sharma & Bojan Konstantinov, 2023. "Large haploblocks underlie rapid adaptation in the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Connor M. French & Laura D. Bertola & Ana C. Carnaval & Evan P. Economo & Jamie M. Kass & David J. Lohman & Katharine A. Marske & Rudolf Meier & Isaac Overcast & Andrew J. Rominger & Phillip P. A. Sta, 2023. "Global determinants of insect mitochondrial genetic diversity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Kun Guo & Petr Pyšek & Mark Kleunen & Nicole L. Kinlock & Magdalena Lučanová & Ilia J. Leitch & Simon Pierce & Wayne Dawson & Franz Essl & Holger Kreft & Bernd Lenzner & Jan Pergl & Patrick Weigelt & , 2024. "Plant invasion and naturalization are influenced by genome size, ecology and economic use globally," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Slade, Andrew & White, Andy & Lurz, Peter W.W. & Shuttleworth, Craig & Tosh, David G. & Twining, Joshua P., 2023. "Indirect effects of pine marten recovery result in benefits to native prey through suppression of an invasive species and a shared pathogen," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 476(C).
    7. Daijun Liu & Philipp Semenchuk & Franz Essl & Bernd Lenzner & Dietmar Moser & Tim M. Blackburn & Phillip Cassey & Dino Biancolini & César Capinha & Wayne Dawson & Ellie E. Dyer & Benoit Guénard & Evan, 2023. "The impact of land use on non-native species incidence and number in local assemblages worldwide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Sally E. Street & Jorge S. Gutiérrez & William L. Allen & Isabella Capellini, 2023. "Human activities favour prolific life histories in both traded and introduced vertebrates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Cai Cheng & Zekang Liu & Wei Song & Xue Chen & Zhijie Zhang & Bo Li & Mark Kleunen & Jihua Wu, 2024. "Biodiversity increases resistance of grasslands against plant invasions under multiple environmental changes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Ismael Soto & Ross N Cuthbert & Antonín Kouba & César Capinha & Anna Turbelin & Emma J Hudgins & Christophe Diagne & Franck Courchamp & Phillip J Haubrock, 2022. "Global economic costs of herpetofauna invasions," Post-Print hal-03860530, HAL.
    11. Ross N Cuthbert & Christophe Diagne & Emma J Hudgins & Anna Turbelin & Danish A Ahmed & Céline Albert & Thomas W Bodey & Elizabeta Briski & Franz Essl & Phillip J Haubrock & Rodolphe E Gozlan & Natali, 2022. "Biological invasion costs reveal insufficient proactive management worldwide," Post-Print hal-03860581, HAL.
    12. Runxi Wang & Jamie M. Kass & Chhaya Chaudhary & Evan P. Economo & Benoit Guénard, 2024. "Global biogeographic regions for ants have complex relationships with those for plants and tetrapods," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Wells, Jasmine J. & Stringer, Lindsay C. & Woodhead, Anna J. & Wandrag, Elizabeth M., 2023. "Towards a holistic understanding of non-native tree impacts on ecosystem services: A review of Acacia, Eucalyptus and Pinus in Africa," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Christian Haedo & Michel Mouchart, 2022. "Two-mode clustering through profiles of regions and sectors," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1971-1996, October.
    15. Laura E. Dee & Paul J. Ferraro & Christopher N. Severen & Kaitlin A. Kimmel & Elizabeth T. Borer & Jarrett E. K. Byrnes & Adam Thomas Clark & Yann Hautier & Andrew Hector & Xavier Raynaud & Peter B. R, 2023. "Clarifying the effect of biodiversity on productivity in natural ecosystems with longitudinal data and methods for causal inference," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Pablo Lechón-Alonso & Tom Clegg & Jacob Cook & Thomas P Smith & Samraat Pawar, 2021. "The role of competition versus cooperation in microbial community coalescence," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(11), pages 1-16, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-46359-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.