Linking plant and insect traits to understand multitrophic community structure in arid steppes

• Published in: Functional ecology Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 786 - 792
• Main Authors: Frenette-Dussault, Cédric, Shipley, Bill, Hingrat, Yves
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing 01.06.2013; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; ant communities; arid steppes; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; Body size; community assembly; eastern Morocco; Environmental conservation; Evolutionary ecology; Formicidae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Insect communities; Insect ecology; insect functional traits; Insect taxonomy; Insecta; Invertebrates; partial Mantel test; Plant ecology; Plants; Species; Synecology; Vegetation; vegetation structure; Morocco; North Africa; Africa; Community structure; eastern Morocco; Formicidae; Arid environment; Functional trait; Insecta; partial Mantel test; Social insect; Formicoidea; ant communities; insect functional traits; Partial; arid steppes; Steppe; Arthropoda; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; East; Vegetation structure; Community; community assembly; Aculeata

1. Animal ecology could benefit from a well-defined trait-based framework, mostly applied in plant ecology, to further develop predictions of animal communities under various environmental conditions. We extended the functional approach to a multitrophic system by combining plant and ant traits in r...