![]() The grasses die back to their roots annually and the soil and the sod protect the roots and the new buds from the cold of winter or dry conditions. Temperate grasslands have cold winters and warm summers with some rain. Tropical grasslands have dry and wet seasons that remain warm all the time. While temperatures are often extreme in some grasslands, the average temperatures are about -20☌ to 30☌. Grasslands receive about 500 to 950 mm of rain per year compared to deserts, which receive less than 300 mm and tropical forests, which receive more than 2,000 mm. The height of grass correlates with the amount of rainfall it receives. ![]() These short grasses can have roots that extend 1 m (about 3 ft) deep. Grasses vary in size from 2.1 m (7 ft) tall with roots extending down into the soil 1.8 m (6 ft), to the short grasses growing to a height of only 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 in) tall. They are often located between temperate forests at high latitudes and deserts at subtropical latitudes. In tending honeydew-producing insects, ants can disrupt herbivores and reduce plant herbivory.Grasslands are generally open and continuous, fairly flat areas of grass. Ants can protect honeydew-producing insects, negatively impacting plants. Seed collecting or seed harvesting ants can serve as either seed predators (− effect) or seed dispersers (+ effect). These can negatively impact pollination success or reduce beneficial predators. Ant forging can negatively impact predator and pollinators through direct or indirect interactions. By improving soil conditions for microbial decomposers, ants improve soil conditions for plants. Altered soil conditions can also improve conditions for decomposers but ants can directly diminish decomposer abundance as consumers. Ants generally have a positive effect on soil properties through nest construction and maintenance, improving soil conditions for plants. Red lines represent negative interactions, green lines represent positive interactions and gray represents an interaction that can be either positive or negative depending on the species considered. Lines represent the direct (solid) and indirect (dashed) impacts on organisms. In synthesizing the role of ants in temperate grasslands and identifying knowledge gaps, we hope this and future work will help inform how land managers maximize grassland conservation value while increasing multiple ecosystem services and minimizing disservices.īeneficial insects Biodiversity Ecosystem services Plant–insect interactions Temperate.ĭiagram of the interaction between ants, soil properties, and other organisms. ![]() This includes identifying how grassland fragmentation may influence ant community assembly, quantifying how ant communities impact ecosystem functions and soil processes, and understanding how ant communities and their associated interactions are impacted by climate change. We also identify five avenues for future research to improve our understanding of the roles of ants in grasslands. Drawing on examples largely from mesic, north temperate studies, and from other temperate regions where necessary, we review the roles of ants as consumers and ecosystem engineers in grasslands. As common and numerically dominant invertebrates in grasslands, ants can also serve as important indicator species to monitor conservation and management practices. As consumers and ecosystem engineers, ants in temperate grasslands influence invertebrate, plant, and soil microbial diversity and potentially alter grassland productivity. ![]() In contrast to their well-known importance in tropical and subtropical ecosystems, the role of ants in temperate grasslands is often underappreciated. Reintegrating grasslands into agricultural landscapes can increase biodiversity while also providing valuable ecosystem services. Historic and current land-use changes have altered the landscape for grassland biota, with over 90% of grasslands and savannas converted to agriculture or some other use in north temperate regions. ![]()
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