Overview

For practical reasons, invertebrates are seldom taken into account during the design and selection of protected areas. Yet they constitute the largest part of animal biodiversity. Ants are abundant in most terrestrial ecosystem where they generally play an important ecological role. Compared to most other invertebrates they can be relatively easily collected and identified and are not hyperdiverse (more than 12000 described species, a number comparable to the number of bird species). Ants and termites can be very useful for biomonitoring (e.g. CTFS Arthropod initiative). We conduct various projects that mainly address the following questions: which environmental factors should be taken into account if we want to preserve the diversity of ant communities ? what are the interactions of ants with other organisms, especially termites, in the ecosystem ? can we use plant communities as a surrogate of ant communities when selecting protected areas ? how ant species are distributed along environmental gradients ? how can we reliably characterize ant communities with a minimum sampling effort ? 

Geographic scope

Our research projects are conducted worldwide in the tropics, covering various regions: Amazon, Congo & New Guinea forest basins, Chacoan, Atlantic and greater Mekong forests.

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Target organisms

ants, termites, arthropods

Main research themes - selected publications

1) Rainforest canopy ecology - vertical stratification

Jacquemin, J.; Roisin, Y.; Leponce, M. (2016) Spatio-temporal variation in ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) communities in leaf-litter and soil layers in a premontane tropical forest. Myrmecological News, 22, 129-139. [195]

Basset, Y.; Cizek, L.; Cuenoud, P.; Didham, R.K.; Novotny, V.; Odegaard, F.; Roslin, T.; Tishechkin, A.K.; Schmidl, J.; Winchester, N.N.; Roubik, D.W.; Aberlenc, H.P.; Bail, J.; Barrios, H.; Bridle, J.R.; Castano-Meneses, G.; Corbara, B.; Curletti, G.; Duarte da Rocha, W.; De Bakker, D.; Delabie, J.H.; Dejean, A.; Fagan, L.L.; Floren, A.; Kitching, R.L.; Medianero, E.; Gama de Oliveira, E.; Orivel, J.; Pollet, M.; Rapp, M.; Ribeiro, S.P.; Roisin, Y.; Schmidt, J.B.; Sorensen, L.; Lewinsohn, T.M.; Leponce, M. (2015) Arthropod Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest: Tackling a Four Dimensional Puzzle. PLoS One, 10, e0144110. 10.1371/journal.pone.0144110 [188]

Dejean, A.; Ryder, S.; Bolton, B.; Compin, A.; Leponce, M.; Azémar, F.; Céréghino, R.; Orivel, J.; Corbara, B. (2015) How territoriality and host-tree taxa determine the structure of ant mosaics. The Science of Nature. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-015-1282-7. [183]

Dejean, A.; Azemar, F.; Cereghino, R.; Leponce, M.; Corbara, B.; Orivel, J.; Compin, A. (2015) The dynamics of ant mosaics in tropical rainforests characterized using the Self-Organizing Map algorithm. Insect Sci. 10.1111/1744-7917.12208 [182]

DaRocha, W.D.; Ribeiro, S.P.; Neves, F.S.; Fernandes, G.W.; Leponce, M.; Delabie, J.H.C. (2015) How does bromeliad distribution structure the arboreal ant assemblage (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on a single tree in a Brazilian Atlantic forest agroecosystem? Myrmecological News, 21, 83-92. [178]

Roisin, Y.; Bourguignon, T.; Leponce, M. (2013). Nutrient Recycling Starts in the Canopy: The Secretive Action of Termites. In Treetops at Risk. Challenges of Global Canopy Ecology and Conservation (ed. by M. Lowman S. Devy & T. Ganesh), pp. 415-421. Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London, London. [160]

Dejean, A.; Fisher, B.I.; Corbara, B.; Rarevohitra, R.; Randrianaivo, R.; Rajemison, B.; Leponce, M. (2010) Spatial distribution of dominant arboreal ants in a malagasy coastal rainforest: gaps and presence of an invasive species. PLoS ONE, 5, e9319. 10.1371/journal.pone.0009319 [108]

Dejean, A.; Djiéto-Lordon, C.; Céréghino, R.; Leponce, M. (2008) Ontogenetic succession and the ant mosaic: An empirical approach using pioneer trees. Basic and Applied Ecology, 9, 316-323. 10.1016/j.baae.2007.03.001 [092]

Dejean, A.; Corbara, B.; Orivel, J.; Leponce, M. (2007) Rainforest Canopy Ants: The Implications of Territoriality and Predatory Behavior. Functional Ecosystems and Communities, 1, 105-120. [083]

Roisin, Y.; Dejean, A.; Corbara, B.; Orivel, J.; Samaniego, M.; Leponce, M. (2006) Vertical stratification of the termite assemblage in a neotropical rainforest. Oecologia, 149, 301-311. 10.1007/s00442-006-0449-5 [079]

2) Arthropod biodiversity & interactions, conservation, scale-effects

Basset, Y.; Cizek, L.; Cuenoud, P.; Didham, R.K.; Guilhaumon, F.; Missa, O.; Novotny, V.; Odegaard, F.; Roslin, T.; Schmidl, J.; Tishechkin, A.K.; Winchester, N.N.; Roubik, D.W.; Aberlenc, H.P.; Bail, J.; Barrios, H.; Bridle, J.R.; Castano-Meneses, G.; Corbara, B.; Curletti, G.; Duarte da Rocha, W.; De Bakker, D.; Delabie, J.H.; Dejean, A.; Fagan, L.L.; Floren, A.; Kitching, R.L.; Medianero, E.; Miller, S.E.; Gama de Oliveira, E.; Orivel, J.; Pollet, M.; Rapp, M.; Ribeiro, S.P.; Roisin, Y.; Schmidt, J.B.; Sorensen, L.; Leponce, M. (2012) Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science, 338, 1481-4. 10.1126/science.1226727 [139]

Hanisch, P.E.; Calcaterra, L.; Leponce, M.; Achury, R.; Suarez, A.; Silva, R.; Paris, C. (2015) Check list of ground-dwelling ant diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Iguazú National Park with a comparison at regional scale. Sociobiology, 62. 10.13102/sociobiology.v62i2.213-227 [185]

Groc, S.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Fernandez, F.; Leponce, M.; Orivel, J.; Silvestre, R.; Vasconcelos, H.; Dejean, A. (2014) Leaf-litter ant communities in a pristine Guianese rainforest: stable functional structure versus high species turnover. Myrmelocogical News. [158]

Delsinne, T.; MacKay, W.; Wild, A.; Roisin, Y.; Leponce, M. (2012) Distribution and diversity of the cryptic ant genus Oxyepoecus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Paraguay, with descriptions of two new species. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 8. [144]

Bourguignon, T.; Leponce, M.; Roisin, Y. (2011) Beta-Diversity of Termite Assemblages Among Primary French Guiana Rain Forests. Biotropica, 43, 473-479. [123]

Bourguignon, T.; Leponce, M.; Roisin, Y. (2011) Are the spatio-temporal dynamics of soil-feeding termite colonies shaped by intra-specific competition? Ecological Entomology, 36, 776-785. 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2011.01328.x [122]

Delabie, J.H.C.; Jahyny, B.; do Nascimento, I.C.; Mariano, C.S.F.; Lacau, S.; Campiolo, S.; Philpott, S.M.; Leponce, M. (2007) Contribution of cocoa plantations to the conservation of native ants (Insecta : Hymenoptera : Formicidae) with a special emphasis on the Atlantic Forest fauna of southern Bahia, Brazil. Biodiversity Conservation, 16, 2359-2384. [084]

Gibb, H.; Sanders, N.J.; Dunn, R.R.; Watson, S.; Photakis, M.; Abril, S.; Andersen, A.N.; Angulo, E.; Armbrecht, I.; Arnan, X.; Baccaro, F.B.; Bishop, T.R.; Boulay, R.; Castracani, C.; Del Toro, I.; Delsinne, T.; Diaz, M.; Donoso, D.A.; Enriquez, M.L.; Fayle, T.M.; Feener, D.H.; Fitzpatrick, M.C.; Gomez, C.; Grasso, D.A.; Groc, S.; Heterick, B.; Hoffmann, B.D.; Lach, L.; Lattke, J.; Leponce, M.; Lessard, J.P.; Longino, J.; Lucky, A.; Majer, J.; Menke, S.B.; Mezger, D.; Mori, A.; Munyai, T.C.; Paknia, O.; Pearce-Duvet, J.; Pfeiffer, M.; Philpott, S.M.; de Souza, J.L.P.; Tista, M.; Vasconcelos, H.L.; Vonshak, M.; Parr, C.L. (2015) Climate mediates the effects of disturbance on ant assemblage structure. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282, 20150418-20150418. 10.1098/rspb.2015.0418 [#184]

Jacquemin, J.; Drouet, T.; Delsinne, T.; Roisin, Y.; Leponce, M. (2012) Soil properties only weakly affect subterranean ant distribution at small spatial scales. Applied Soil Ecology, 62, 163-169. 10.1016/j.apsoil.2012.08.008 [149]

Leponce, M.; Theunis, L.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Roisin, Y. (2004) Scale dependence of diversity measures in a leaf-litter ant assemblage. Ecography, 27, 253-267. [55]

Theunis, L.; Gilbert, M.; Roisin, Y.; Leponce, M. (2005) Periodic pattern of species distribution in a ground-dwelling ant assemblage. Insectes Sociaux, 52, 366-377. [074]

4) Effects of abiotic environmental factors, invasive species

Dejean, A.; Céréghino, R.; Carpenter, J.M.; Corbara, B.; Hérault, B.; Rossi, V.; Leponce, M.; Orivel, J.; Bonal, D. (2011) Climate change impact on Neotropical social wasps. PLoS ONE, 6, e27004. 10.1371/journal.pone.0027004 [124]

Dejean, A.; Carpenter, J.M.; Gibernau, M.; Leponce, M.; Corbara, B. (2010) Nest relocation and high mortality rate in a Neotropical social wasp: impact of an exceptionally rainy La Niña year / Migration et fort taux de mortalité chez une guêpe Néotropicale: conséquence de pluies exceptionnelles durant une année La Niña. Comptes-Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, Biologies, 333, 35-40. [107]

Delsinne, T.; Sonet, G.; Nagy, Z.T.; Wauters, N.; Jacquemin, J.; Leponce, M. (2012) High species turnover of the ant genus Solenopsis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an altitudinal gradient in the Ecuadorian Andes, indicated by a combined DNA sequencing and morphological approach. . Invertebrates Systematics, 26, 457-469. [147

Delsinne, T.; Roisin, Y.; Herbauts, J.; Leponce, M. (2010) Ant diversity along a wide rainfall gradient in the Paraguayan dry Chaco. Journal of Arid Environments, 74, 1149-1155. 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.03.014 [111]]

Dejean, A.; Fisher, B.I.; Corbara, B.; Rarevohitra, R.; Randrianaivo, R.; Rajemison, B.; Leponce, M. (2010) Spatial distribution of dominant arboreal ants in a malagasy coastal rainforest: gaps and presence of an invasive species. PLoS ONE, 5, e9319. 10.1371/journal.pone.0009319 [108]

Rey, O.; Estoup, A.; Vonshak, M.; Loiseau, A.; Blanchet, S.; Calcaterra, L.; Chifflet, L.; Rossi, J.P.; Kergoat, G.J.; Foucaud, J.; Orivel, J.; Leponce, M.; Schultz, T.; Facon, B. (2012) Where do adaptive shifts occur during invasion? A multidisciplinary approach to unravelling cold adaptation in a tropical ant species invading the Mediterranean area. Ecol Lett, 15, 1266-75. 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01849.x [155 ]

Dejean, A.; Corbara, B.; Céréghino, R.; Leponce, M.; Roux, O.; Rossi, V.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Compin, A. (2015) Traits allowing some ant species to nest syntopically with the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima in its native range. Insect Science, 22, 289–294. 10.1111/1744-7917.12078 [163]

5) Methodological developments, experimental approaches

Leponce, M.; Dejean, A. (2011) How to assess rapidly the spatial distribution of numerically dominant ants in the canopy? In Anais XX Simposio de Mirmecologia i encuentro de mirmecologistas de las americas, pp. pp.49-50, Pétropolis, RJ, Brasil.[134]

Delsinne, T.; Leponce, M.; Theunis, L.; Braet, Y.; Roisin, Y. (2008) Rainfall Influences Ant Sampling in Dry Forests. Biotropica, 10, 590-596. [094]

Leponce, M. ; Theunis, L. ; Delabie, J. & Roisin, Y. 2004. Scale dependence of diversity measures in a leaf-litter ant assemblage. Ecography, 27: 253-267.[055]

Roisin, Y. & Leponce, M. 2004. Characterizing termite assemblages in fragmented forests: a test case in the Argentinian Chaco. Austral Ecology, 29:637-646.[057]

Jacquemin, J.; Maraun, M.; Roisin, Y.; Leponce, M. (2012) Differential response of ants to nutrient addition in a tropical Brown Food Web. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 46, 10-17. [153]

Delsinne, T.; Arias-Penna, T.; Leponce, M. (2013) Effect of rainfall exclusion on ant assemblages in montane rainforests of Ecuador. Basic and Applied Ecology, 14, 357-365. 10.1016/j.baae.2013.04.002 [156]

Web pages hosted by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and maintained by Maurice Leponce. Last update 31/03/2016.