Ant Species Diversity in the Central and Northern Parts of the Western Sichuan Plateau in China

Abstract

Understanding how species richness changes along elevational gradients has attracted increasing attention from many researchers. The relationships between species richness and elevations were characterized by monotonic decreases or mid-elevational peaks. The western Sichuan Plateau is an important species diversity hotspot. However, there is little information available about the ant species diversity and distribution patterns of this region. In this study, we hypothesize that ant diversity will show a monotonic decrease from mid-elevation with increasing elevation. Here, the ant species diversity and distribution patterns of this region were investigated by plot surveys. A total of 22,645 ants were collected from eight elevational transects in the central and northern parts of the western Sichuan Plateau, which were identified as belonging to 40 species, 18 genera, and 4 subfamilies. We found a unimodal relationship between elevation and ant species richness, with the highest ant species richness occurring at mid-elevations. The similarity coefficient of ant communities in each elevational transect was at a moderate level of dissimilarity, indicating that the elevation difference and habitat heterogeneity had a great impact on ant communities in the central and northern areas of the western Sichuan Plateau.