Tradeoffs, competition, and coexistence in eastern deciduous forest ant communities

摘要: Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species in local assemblages. This is especially challenging species-rich assemblages which interspecific competition intense, as it often ant As a result, suite mechanisms has been proposed among species: dominance–discovery tradeoff, dominance–thermal tolerance spatial segregation, temperature-based niche partitioning, and temporal partitioning. Through series observations experiments, we examined deciduous forest assemblage eastern North America for signature each these mechanisms. We failed detect evidence any commonly suggested coexistence, with one notable exception: appear temporally partition foraging times such that behaviourally dominant foraged more intensely at night, while by subdominant peaked during day. Our work, though focused on single assemblage, indicates many cited may not be general all However, segregation play role promoting least some ecosystems, does other organisms.