Disturbance impacts on ant interactions in different climatic regions

Abstract Global environmental change has altered ecological communities through direct losses of biodiversity and through changes to species interactions. Ants are a diverse, widespread, and abundant group with a broad range of interactions with other taxa. Knowledge of how disturbances impact ant interactions is important for understanding the implications of global change for biodiversity and ecosystems. We conducted a systematic review with the aim of synthesizing current knowledge of disturbance effects on ant interactions with other taxa. We gathered data from 98 studies published between 1990 and 2023, representing four major climatic regions spanning 22 countries. Ants were reported as interacting with a wide range of taxa, including plants, other insects, vertebrates, and microorganisms. Interactions with plants were frequently studied, with ant-mediated seed dispersal being particularly prominent in arid zones, and studies on ants and extrafloral nectar plants being mainly studied in tropical regions. The types of disturbances that impacted ant interactions varied among climatic regions. In arid and semi-arid areas, most studies focused on fire and grazing, whereas in tropical regions, vegetation clearing was more commonly studied. There were fewer overall studies in arid regions, limiting our knowledge of ant-disturbance dynamics in these ecosystems. Our review indicates that disturbances can alter ant assemblages and their interactions both positively and negatively, but clear gaps exist in our knowledge of interaction types in different combinations of disturbances and climatic regions. Finally, we outlined key knowledge gaps that require future research for a better understanding of the complexity of disturbance impacts on ant interaction.