title: Postfire Succession of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Nesting in Dead Wood of Northern Boreal Forest.
abstract: Dead wood decomposition begins immediately after tree death and involves a large array of invertebrates. Ecological successions are still poorly known for saproxylic organisms, particularly in boreal forests. We investigated the use of dead wood as nesting sites for ants along a 60-yr postfire chronosequence in northeastern coniferous forests. We sampled a total of 1,625 pieces of dead wood, in which 263 ant nests were found. Overall, ant abundance increased during the first 30 yr after wildfire, and then declined. Leptothorax cf. canadensis Provancher, the most abundant species in our study, was absent during the first 2 yr postfire, but increased steadily until 30 yr after fire, whereas Myrmica alaskensis Wheeler, second in abundance, was found at all stages of succession in the chronosequence. Six other species were less frequently found, among which Camponotus herculeanus (Linné), Formica neorufibarbis Emery, and Formica aserva Forel were locally abundant, but more scarcely distributed. Dead wood lying on the ground and showing numerous woodborer holes had a higher probability of being colonized by ants. The C:N ratio was lower for dead wood colonized by ants than for noncolonized dead wood, showing that the continuous occupation of dead wood by ants influences the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of dead wood after wildfire in northern boreal forests.
authors: Département de Biologie, Chimie & Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 300 allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, Canada G5L 3A1.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Boucher
authors: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du P.E.P.S., P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Québec, QC, Canada G1V 4C7. Christian.Hebert@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Hébert
authors: Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 de l'Université, Saguenay, QC, Canada G7H 2B1.
authors: André
authors: A
authors: Francoeur
authors: Département de Biologie, Chimie & Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 300 allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, Canada G5L 3A1.
authors: Luc
authors: L
authors: Sirois
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D005390:Fires; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011792:Quebec; D066188:Taiga; D014197:Trees; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: ant; boreal forest; dead wood; succession; wildfire