This study was conducted in burned and harvested areas of Catalonia. It was evaluated the effect of the granivorous in predispersive fruit removal of Smilax aspera and Quercus coccifera and postdispersive seed removal. Nuts removal by rodents was nil in the burned area while for S. aspera only occurred in 2008. The minimum distance to any unburned margin and the distance to the fire perimeter explained patterns of seed removal for rodents and ants, respectively. Seed removal was also lower at unlogged sites vs. logged ones but it was only significative for ants. Rodents removed more seeds under piles of branches because logging while ants did so in areas of bare soil. It should consider the impact of granivorous in the management of burned habitats. / Este estudio fue desarrollado en áreas quemadas y taladas de Cataluña. Se evaluó el efecto de los granívoros en la remoción predispersiva de frutos de Smilax aspera y Quercus coccifera así como la remoción postdispersiva de semillas. La remoción de Quercus por parte de roedores fue nula en el área quemada mientras que para S. aspera solo ocurrió en el 2008. La distancia minima a cualquier margen no quemado y la distancia al perímetro del incendio explicaron los patrones de remoción de semillas para roedores y hormigas, respectivamente. La remoción de semillas también fue menor en las estaciones taladas vs. las no taladas, pero solo de forma significativa para hormigas. Los roedores removieron más semillas bajo amontonamientos de ramas producto de la gestión forestal mientras que las hormigas lo hicieron en áreas de suelo desnudo. Se debería contemplar el efecto de los granívoros en la gestión de los hábitats quemados.

No description available.

Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) remains a highly invasive and ecologically damaging weed in South Africa, despite some 50 years of biological control efforts. Lack of success has been ascribed to varietal differences, climate and predation of agents but these have not been tested. In this study, the effects of ant predation were tested on populations of three biological control agents for L. camara. Colonies of two species, Crematogaster sp. 1 and 2 were investigated. Crematogaster sp. 1 colonies were offered no choice between immature stages of the agents Hypena laceratalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Falconia intermedia Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae) or Teleonemia scrupulosa Stål (Hemiptera: Tingidae) on lantana shoots. Density-dependent predation on F. intermedia and T. scrupulosa nymphs on lantana shoots was tested using Crematogaster sp. 2 colonies. In choice experiments Crematogaster sp. 2 colonies were offered F. intermedia or T. scrupulosa nymphs on potted lantana plants. Preliminary food trials confirmed that colonies foraged for protein, thereby validating results of no-choice experiments. Crematogaster sp.1 foragers removed 50% of F. intermedia nymphs, followed by 45% of H. laceratalis larvae and only 9% of T. scrupulosa nymphs. Foragers recruited most actively to H. laceratalis larvae and significantly more H. laceratalis biomass was removed than either F. intermedia or T. scrupulosa. A trade-off existed in prey size selection because larger larvae provided considerably more biomass but required forager cooperation and a longer time to subdue than did smaller prey. This increases both forager energy expense and mortality risk by other predators. This study showed that all Crematogaster sp. 1 colonies removed small (≤10mm) H. laceratalis larvae more frequently than larvae larger than 10mm. Thus, of these biological control agents, predators probably prefer small H. laceratalis larvae. Significantly more F. intermedia than T. scrupulosa nymphs were removed by Crematogaster sp. 1, while Crematogaster sp. 2 colonies removed comparable numbers of both agent species. Falconia intermedia nymphs' fast movement triggered a predatory response by these ant species. In contrast, the relatively immobile behaviour of T. scrupulosa nymphs was identified as a highly effective predator avoidance strategy. Since T. scrupulosa nymphs are unable to escape predators by moving, they appear to depend on the presence of alternative prey attracting predator attention. At high agent and/or forager density, T. scrupulosa nymphs attempted escape, but foragers identified them as prey once they moved and caught them. Predation on F. intermedia was also density dependent in that at high nymph and/or forager densities, escape routes were congested and nymphs were more easily caught. Survival of F. intermedia and T. scrupulosa nymphs in particular was low on ant-accessed shrubs in choice experiments and high on ant-excluded shrubs. It is likely that ants significantly depress F. intermedia populations in the field since besides predation, ant foragers probably interrupt F. intermedia feeding and ovipositioning. The combination of parasitism and predation on early instar larvae may explain why H. laceratalis occurs across lantana's range in South Africa but populations remain low. It is unlikely that T. scrupulosa nymphs are habitually preyed on by ant species unless they attract attention by being mobile. Although biological control of L. camara is influenced by climate and physiological defence mechanisms, this study has shown that predation by two ant species severely impacts leaf-feeding agents for L. camara. Thus, it is recommended that future selection of additional agents to control lantana should exclude leaf-feeding .

Forest ants of the genus Formica are legally protected animals. With the environmental services they provide, ensure ecological stability of forest ecosystem and are an important part of ecosystem. This work was focused on the study of ecological linkages (trofobiosis, myrmecochory and myrmecofily) and mapping damage nesting by woodpecker and wild pigs. Their destructive activities in the studied area are very high. The work also oriented on gaining a new approach to protect the ants of the genus Formica, which is based on the Red List of endangered species in the Czech Republic. Existing species protection is extended to protect the environment and the creation of a comprehensive protection.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The nest refuse of leaf-cutting ants is the depleted material resulted from the degradation of vegetation harvested, after being partially consumed by workers, along with dead ants and remnants of own symbiotic fungus. It is an extremely rich material in many nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and may act as an important component of the organic matter in tropical soils, influencing the development and diversity of plant species. In addition, as a renewable material, of relatively easy availability and sampling, it may be a compound with a high potential for organic farming. In this study, we evaluated the influence of nest refuse in two distinct situations: i) as a substrate for the production of vegetables and ii) the plant regeneration of newly deforested plots. To this purpose, the experiments were divided into two stages: first, the nest refuse was evaluated as a component in a substrate for production of lettuce seedlings (Lactuca sativa) and arugula (Eruca sativa) at different concentrations. The experimental design was completely randomized, consisting of six treatments and four replications. The treatments were the following mixtures: Control (Cont) considered the basic substrate containing bark of Pinus sp. + sand + vermiculite (3:3:1 v/v); commercial substrate (Tropstrato®- Trop); nest refuse of two species (Atta opaciceps and Acromyrmex balzani) + basic substrate, in two concentrations: 15% and 25% for each of the species tested (AT15, AT25, AC15 and AC25), respectively. All substrates were subjected to chemical analysis for determination of macro- and micronutrients. The influence of the substrate in the development of seedlings was evaluated by height, root length, stem diameter, dry weight and number of leaves at four periods: 15, 20, 25 and 30 days after sowing. For the second stage of the experiment, a portion of 10 m x 5 m was installed in a regeneration area. The plot was divided into 50 sub-plots of 1 m2, of these, 30 subplots were randomly selected for cataloguing herbaceous species present. After that, the original vegetation was completely removed in the whole plot area. Thereafter, it was installed at the center of each subplot a quadrant of 30 cm x 30 cm, 15 of them containing a mixture of a liter of sieved soil with 250 mL of nest refuse of Atta opaciceps (25% of nest refuse) and the remaining quadrants with 1 liter of bare soil (control). The quadrants remained in the field for 150 days to be reforested. Afterwards, richness, abundance, composition and dry biomass of the herbaceous species that colonized the plots were evaluated. Our results showed that the seedlings of vegetables in treatments containing nest refuse of leaf-cutting ants developed as well as those grown in the commercial product taking into account the evaluated attributes. Possibly, the highest average growth rates of seedlings from the AT25 and AC25 treatments are due to higher nutrient concentrations present in the material. The nest refuse also influenced the development of herbaceous species, since plots receiving nest refuse had higher biomass (vigor) in comparison with the control group. However, there was no influence of nest refuse in species diversity between treatments. Our results suggest that nest refuse produced by leaf-cutting ants may have applicability to either production of vegetables or to be disposed in areas that suffered some disturbance, pointing out another ecological service provided by ants. / O lixo de formigas cortadeiras é o material gerado da degradação do material vegetal após ser parcialmente consumido pelas operárias, juntamente com formigas mortas e resquícios do próprio fungo simbionte. É um material extremamente rico em diversos nutrientes e pode atuar como um importante insumo em solos tropicais, influenciando na diversidade e desenvolvimento de espécies vegetais. Além disso, por ser um material renovável, relativamente de fácil disponibilidade e coleta, pode ser um composto com alto potencial em cultivos orgânicos. Nesse estudo avaliamos a influência do lixo em duas situações distintas: i) como substrato para a produção de hortaliças e ii) na regeneração vegetal de parcelas recém desmatadas. Para alcance dos nossos objetivos, os experimentos foram divididos em duas etapas: na primeira, o lixo foi avaliado como componente na formulação de substratos para produção de mudas de alface (Lactuca sativa) e rúcula (Eruca sativa) em diferentes concentrações. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado, formado por seis tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram em: Cont (Pinus sp. + fibra de coco + vermiculita (3:3:1 v/v)); substrato comercial - (Trop); lixo de formigueiros + substrato Cont, oriundo de duas espécies (Atta opaciceps e Acromyrmex balzani) em duas concentrações de 15% e 25% para cada uma das espécies testadas (AT15, AT25, AC15 e AC25), respectivamente. Todos os substratos foram submetidos às análises químicas para determinação de macro e micronutrientes. A influência do substrato no desenvolvimento das mudas foi avaliada pela altura, comprimento da raiz, diâmetro do caule, massa seca e número de folhas, em quatro períodos: aos 15, 20, 25 e 30 dias após a semeadura. Para segunda etapa do experimento, uma parcela de 10 m x 5 m foi instalada em uma área em regeneração. A parcela foi subdividida em 50 subparcelas de 1 m2 destas, 30 subparcelas foram selecionadas aleatoriamente para levantamento das espécies herbáceas presentes. Após isso, a vegetação original foi totalmente removida em toda a área da parcela. Posteriormente, no centro de cada uma das 30 subparcelas foi demarcado um quadrante de 30 cm x 30 cm, sendo 15 contendo uma mistura de solo com Atta opaciceps (25% de lixo), totalizando um litro; e 15 com 1 litro de solo (controle). Os quadrantes permaneceram no local por 150 dias, para serem recolonizados pela vegetação. Após esse período avaliou-se a riqueza, abundância, composição e biomassa seca das espécies herbáceas que colonizaram as parcelas. Os nossos resultados mostraram que as mudas de hortaliças nos tratamentos contendo lixo de formigas cortadeiras se desenvolveram tão bem quanto as do tratamento comercial nos atributos avaliados. Possivelmente, as maiores médias de crescimento das mudas no tratamento AT25 e AC25 devem-se às maiores concentrações de nutrientes presentes no material. O lixo também influenciou o desenvolvimento das espécies herbáceas, as parcelas que receberam lixo apresentaram maior biomassa (vigor) em relação ao grupo controle. Porém, não foi observada influência do lixo na diversidade das espécies entre os tratamentos. Nossos resultados sugerem que o lixo produzido por formigas cortadeiras pode ter aplicabilidades tanto para a produção de hortaliças, quanto para ser inserido em áreas que sofreram alguma perturbação, ressalvando mais um serviço ecológico fornecido pelas saúvas.

Le microbiote bactérien cuticulaire des fourmis (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) est connu pour avoir un rôle défensif chez ces insectes sociaux, notamment chez les fourmis attines (Formicidae : Attini) grâce l’utilisation de molécules antimicrobiennes produites par des actinobactéries cuticulaires. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons étudié le microbiote bactérien des fourmis de Guyane en utilisant différentes approches en chimie des produits naturels et en écologie moléculaire. Le premier chapitre décrit l’isolement, l’identification, la culture et l’évaluation biologique de 43 actinobactéries cuticulaires de fourmis de Guyane. Les tests d’antagonismes des souches isolées et l’activité antibiotique des extraits de culture contre des micro-organismes pathogènes humains sont présentés ainsi que l’identification d’un dipeptide cyclique (Cyclo(LPro-LPhe)) antimicrobien qui a été isolé à partir d’une souche proche de Streptomyces thioluteus. Par ailleurs, la mise en œuvre de réseaux moléculaires appliqués à une analyse par UPLC/MS/MS de cocultures d’actinobactéries a permis d’explorer la diversité des métabolites produits dans ces conditions. Le deuxième chapitre présente une étude méthodologique pour comparer quatre méthodes d’extraction d’ADN, en termes de richesse et de composition du microbiote bactérien cuticulaire, par séquençage haut débit à partir des espèces Atta cephalotes et Pseudomyrmex penetrator. Les résultats du métabarcoding ADN mettent en lumière deux méthodes d’extraction et révèlent des différences inter- et intraspécifiques dans la composition des communautés bactériennes cuticulaires. Enfin, le chapitre trois décrit la composition du microbiote bactérien cuticulaire des espèces Camponotus femoratus et Crematogaster levior dans les jardins de fourmis. Les résultats soulignent l’acquisition d’une partie du microbiote dans l’environnement. En parallèle l’analyse métabolomique des cuticules montre à contrario une plus grande spécificité liée à l’espèce de fourmi. Les recherches futures axées sur les stratégies d’analyses statistiques combinant le métabarcoding et la métabolomique sont discutées. / The bacterial microbiota of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is known to have a defensive role in social insects, particularly for leaf-cutting ants (Formicidae: Attini) due to the use of antimicrobial molecules produced by cuticular actinobacteria. In this thesis, we studied the bacterial microbiota of ants in French Guyana using different approaches based on natural products chemistry and molecular ecology. The first chapter describes the isolation, identification, culture and biological evaluations of 43 cuticular actinobacteria. Antagonism bioassays of isolated strains and antibiotic activities of the culture extracts against human pathogens are presented as well as the identification of an antimicrobial cyclic dipeptide (Cyclo (LPro-LPhe)) isolated from a strain close to Streptomyces thioluteus. Moreover, the implementation of molecular networks applied to UPLC/MS/MS analysis of actinobacterial cocultures allowed us to explore the diversity of metabolites produced under these conditions. The second chapter presents a methodological study to evaluate the capacity of four DNA extraction methods, in terms of richness and composition of the cuticular bacterial microbiota, in high-throughput sequencing from Atta cephalotes and Pseudomyrmex penetrator. The results of metabarcoding highlight two methods of extraction and reveal inter- and intraspecific differences in the composition of cuticular bacterial communities. Finally, chapter three describes the composition of the cuticular bacterial microbiota of Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior in ant garden and the results reveal the acquisition in the environment of a part of the microbiota. In parallel, metabolomic analyses of ant’s cuticle show, on the contrary, a greater specificity related to the ant species. Future researches focusing on statistical analysis strategies combining metabarcoding and metabolomics data are discussed.

In order to improve our knowledge of the mechanisms of ageing in animals, the main objective of the thesis was to understand the modulation of such mechanisms by the individual social role, within different social organisations. This objective thus addresses two main questions: i) describing the covariation of the degree of social complexity with ageing patterns; ii) highlighting the underlying cellular and molecular processes. Thanks to complementary and diversified studies (behavioural observations, dosage of the oxidative balance, qPCR measurement of telomere length, proteomics, metabolomics), the present thesis showed that sociality plays a role on ageing at many levels. In the zebra finch, social stress caused by aggression of the conspecifics induces oxidative stress and reduces telomere length in adults. In the sociable weaver, the social environment is of crucial importance during pre- and post-hatch development on the medium term survival of the chicks. Finally, in ants, we were able to show a positive relationship between the degree of sociality and maximum potential life span: this link was caste specific, being only significant for the most social queens. This is inline with a recent review by Lucas and Keller (2020) which concluded that the benefits of sociality are most sensitive for high levels of sociality and particularly in reproductive individuals. With regard to the molecular mechanisms of ageing,we were able to establish a causal chain between social stress, oxidative response and telomere erosion in zebra finches.The role of telomeres as a predictor of offspring survival has been confirmed (over at least 5 years) in the sociable weaver,a cooperative breeder bird. However, this link was not true in queen ants where the longest lived were those with the shortest telomeres. The co-evolution of anti-cancer mechanisms and longevity seems to be conserved since similar strategies are found in taxa as diverse as ants and rodents. On the other hand, and contrary to previous studies conducted on ants, we found that oxidative stress might be a marker of individual ageing. We suggest that the proxies of oxidative stress used so far in ants have been misleading or at least incomplete. Thus, understanding the physiological ageing particularities of ants and other social insects might require finding new relevant and specific markers. Finally, the sirtuins and mTOR signalling pathways, key precursors of which we have detected in ants, are molecular crossroads capable of activating or inhibiting cellular metabolism depending on the cell energy state. According to the studies carried out to date, these signalling pathways are among the first to be able to slow down the effects of ageing and extend life expectancy.However, specific studies need to be carried out to understand their fine regulation and thus assess the universality of these mechanisms in animal ageing. Based on our findings, we propose three points to be further addressed to better understand the mechanisms of ageing in social insects: i) the setup of experiments testing the effectiveness of energy trade-offs involving immunity or digestion metabolism; ii) measuring the telomerase activity among castes of various species in order to explore the telomere and telomere independent roles played by this enzyme in ageing; iii) the need to think about individual longitudinal follow-up and to study wild populations, after the first necessary stages in laboratory. / Doctorat en Sciences / Un résumé grand public en français est disponible au début du manuscrit, juste après les remerciements. / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

MSc (Zoology) / Department of Zoology / The concept of taxonomic diversity has been widely used to investigate diversity patterns and the mechanism underlying community assembly. However, functional and trait diversity can further explain the factors driving community assembly because they capture different aspects of species ecological roles such as habitat requirements and resource use. To investigate the factors shaping community assembly along the elevational Soutpansberg transect, ants were used as a model study organism because they are widely distributed geographically, ubiquitous and play several important roles in ecosystems. Functional and taxonomic diversity patterns along the elevation, their drivers (seasonality, soil properties, temperature and habitat structure) were examined using a long-term dataset (8 years) collected seasonally. Morphological and physiological traits at a community level are quantified and their relationship to temperature, soil properties and habitat structure modelled. Traits were used to test the size-grain hypothesis, Janzen’s rule and Brett’s rule. Functional and taxonomic diversity had a humped-shaped pattern on the northern and a decreasing pattern on the southern aspect. However, taxonomic diversity did not decrease monotonically on the southern aspect. Functional diversity was mainly related to habitat structure and temperature while taxonomic diversity was explained by seasonality, soil properties and temperature. Functional and taxonomic diversity were positively related at a larger scale but habitat specific at a smaller scale. Taxonomic diversity explained more variation in functional diversity than habitat structure and their interactions. The results supported the size-grain hypothesis and Janzen’s rule but not the Brett’s rule. Patterns in taxonomic and functional diversity mirrored each other but were the result of different mechanisms. Temperature was however important for both measures. Incorporating functional diversity analysis into taxonomic diversity contributed significantly in understanding the different mechanisms underlying community assembly along the Soutpansberg transect. This together with trait responses to environmental variables such as a decrease in size with increased temperature could be used to model the responses of ant communities to global change drivers such as climate and land use change / NRF

Abandoned industrial-waste deposits (incl. fly ash or tailings ponds) represent very specific and mostly extreme habitat conditions. They offer unique opportunity to study primary succession in cultural landscape. Substrate of the material deposited here shows extreme properties, such as low pH, overheating of the open surface, salinization etc. The aim of this work is to map the colonization of different successional stages of vegetation by ants after years of abandonment of ore-waste deposits in Chvaletice (Eastern Bohemia, CR) and to compare the present state with analogous study made in 2001. Particular aims of both studies (Jarešová 2001, and present study, 2011-12) is to test the influence of ants on vegetation succession. During the years 2011-2012 several prospections were made to record species diversity of ants. On the surface plateau of the sedimentation basin two types of habitats were chosen - the areas with present ant nests and the other areas without them. Each of both types of habitats exhibits different plant species richness: separately the species-area curves were constructed and explained. Three dominant ant species of different size categories present on sedimentation basin were selected for experimental offering of plant seeds, Formica pratensis, Lasius niger, Tetramorium...

This thesis deals with thermoregulation in red wood ants, in Formica rufa group. Our aim was to better understand the mechanisms by which red wood ants maintain thermal homeostasis in their nests. Red wood ants are known to keep high and stable temperatures in their nests from spring to autumn. Most emphasis is placed on the role of the nest mound as a solar collector or on a heat production by microbial community present in the nest material. However, some researchers believe that wood ants are able of active nest thermoregulation in which they can affect the nest temperature by behavioural reactions, mainly by sun basking, increased metabolic heat production or heat transport. The thesis consists of three research articles. The first one is focused on the timing of thermoregulation in red wood ants, the second one investigates in more detail one specific aspect of red wood ant thermoregulation - a sun basking behaviour. These two papers provide data from long-term field observations and experiments. The last paper is based on laboratory experiments where we tested a hypothesis resulting from field observations. Thanks to the field research we found out that ant activity (traffic on ant trails) significantly correlates with nest temperature; once the activity decreased the thermal homeostasis...