Non-native ants are breaking down biogeographic boundaries and homogenizing community assemblages

Lucie Aulus-Giacosa (), Sébastien Ollier and Cleo Bertelsmeier ()
Additional contact information
Lucie Aulus-Giacosa: UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne
Sébastien Ollier: UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne
Cleo Bertelsmeier: UNIL – Sorge, University of Lausanne

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract As geographic distance increases, species assemblages become more distinct, defining global biogeographic realms with abrupt biogeographic boundaries. Yet, it remains largely unknown to what extent these realms may change because of human-mediated dispersal of species. Focusing on the distributions of 309 non-native ant species, we show that historical biogeographic patterns have already broken down into tropical versus non-tropical regions. Importantly, we demonstrate that these profound changes are not limited to the distribution patterns of non-native ants but fundamentally alter biogeographic boundaries of all ant biodiversity (13,774 species). In total, 52% of ant assemblages have become more similar, supporting a global trend of biotic homogenization. Strikingly, this trend was strongest on islands and in the tropics, which harbor some of the most vulnerable ecosystems. Overall, we show that the pervasive anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity override biogeographic patterns resulting from millions of years of evolution, and disproportionally affect particular regions.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46359-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-46359-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46359-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().