title: A global database of ant species abundances.
abstract: What forces structure ecological assemblages? A key limitation to general insights about assemblage structure is the availability of data that are collected at a small spatial grain (local assemblages) and a large spatial extent (global coverage). Here, we present published and unpublished data from 51 ,388 ant abundance and occurrence records of more than 2,693 species and 7,953 morphospecies from local assemblages collected at 4,212 locations around the world. Ants were selected because they are diverse and abundant globally, comprise a large fraction of animal biomass in most terrestrial communities, and are key contributors to a range of ecosystem functions. Data were collected between 1949 and 2014, and include, for each geo-referenced sampling site, both the identity of the ants collected and details of sampling design, habitat type, and degree of disturbance. The aim of compiling this data set was to provide comprehensive species abundance data in order to test relationships between assemblage structure and environmental and biogeographic factors. Data were collected using a variety of standardized methods, such as pitfall and Winkler traps, and will be valuable for studies investigating large-scale forces structuring local assemblages. Understanding such relationships is particularly critical under current rates of global change. We encourage authors holding additional data on systematically collected ant assemblages, especially those in dry and cold, and remote areas, to contact us and contribute their data to this growing data set.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3086, Victoria, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA.|Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
authors.forename: Rob R
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authors.affiliation: Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3086, Victoria, Australia.
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authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3086, Victoria, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, University of Girona, Montilivi Campus s/n, 17071, Girona, Spain.
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authors.affiliation: Naturhistorisches Museum Bern, Bernastrasse 15, 3005, Bern, Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, PMB 44, Winnellie, Northern Territory, 0822, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Departamento de Etología y Conservación de la Biodiversidad, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Avenida Americo Vespucio s/n (Isla de la Cartuja), Sevilla, 41092, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
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authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GP, United Kingdom.|Department of Zoology and Entomology, Centre for Invasion Biology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa.
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authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau in der Pfalz, Germany.
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authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4151-6081
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authors.affiliation: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences Czech Republic and Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, České Budějovice, 370 05, Czech Republic.|Forest Ecology and Conservation Group, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences Czech Republic and Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, České Budějovice, 370 05, Czech Republic.|Department of Biology, University of Guanajuato, Noria Alta sn., Guanajuato, Mexico.
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authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Biology and Climate Change, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, National University of Mongolia, Baga Toiruu 47, P.O. Box 377, Ulaanbaatar, 210646, Mongolia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Room 314, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Michael D
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authors.affiliation: Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
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mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem
keywords: Formicidae; Winkler trap; abundance; ants; database; disturbance; geo-referenced; habitat; local assemblage; occurrence; pitfall trap