Forest clearing and sex ratio in forest-dwelling wood ant Formica aquilonia.
Sex ratios of ants have been shown to vary with food resource levels in several studies, but it is not known whether forest clear-cutting has any effect on sex ratio of aphid-tending forest-dwelling ants. We investigated whether the offspring sex ratio of the forest dwelling ant Formica aquilonia varied as a response to clear-cutting. We found that the proportion of males was smaller in clear-cuts than in adjacent forests. Our results are among the first showing that anthropogenic changes in forest structures may have a potential to modify sex ratios of social insects and other forest-dwelling animals.
Sorvari
Jouni
J
Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland. jouni.sorvari@utu.fi
Hakkarainen
Harri
H
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010058:Oviposition / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012744:Sex Ratio; D014197:Trees