Altitude Distribution of Insects in Tropical and Subtropical Rainforests

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 2406

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
Interests: community ecology; insect ecology; conservation ecology

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Guest Editor
Griffith School of Environment, Nathan, QLD, Australia
Interests: biodiversity assessment; biodiversity conservation; biology ecology biodiversity & conservation; biodiversity monitoring conservation; climate change taxonomy ecology and evolution

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Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia
Interests: taxonomy; biology and ecology of Hymenoptera; the bees, wasps and ants

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Guest Editor
School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Interests: tropical rainforest conservation; ecology; conservation biology; environmental changes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Altitudinal gradients present rapid changes in environmental conditions and corresponding patterns of organisms within short geographic distances. Studying the altitudinal distributions of insects—a significant aspect of terrestrial biodiversity—has helped us understand the dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem processes and the potential impacts of climate change, aiding in the development of effective conservation strategies. Although insects in the lower latitudes are considered more sensitive to altitudinal differences, relatively little is known about the mechanisms associated with organisms’ response patterns from the viewpoint of their phylogenetic positions and ecological traits in tropical and subtropical rainforests.

In this Special Issue, we aim to improve our understanding of the altitudinal distribution of insects in tropical and subtropical rainforests, which is highly necessary in order to halt and manage the decline of insect biodiversity in a changing world.

Prof. Dr. Akihiro Nakamura
Prof. Dr. Roger Kitching
Dr. Chris J. Burwell
Dr. Louise Ashton
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • arthropods
  • biogeography
  • climate warming
  • ecological traits
  • ecosystem processes
  • elevational gradients
  • human disturbances
  • invertebrates
  • phylogenetic relationships
  • species interactions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 7372 KiB  
Article
Elevational Distribution of Ants Across Seasons in a Subtropical Rainforest of Eastern Australia
by Pitoon Kongnoo, Chris J. Burwell, Benjamin D. Blanchard, Laksamee Punthuwat, Mark Jun M. Alcantara, Louise A. Ashton, Roger L. Kitching, Min Cao and Akihiro Nakamura
Forests 2025, 16(4), 664; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16040664 - 10 Apr 2025
Viewed by 1308
Abstract
Elevational gradients are widely studied to understand environmental variability and species distribution. Ants play vital roles in ecosystems and are frequently included in elevational biogeography studies. Despite their ecological importance and well-documented elevational patterns, little is known about their temporal variability across elevations. [...] Read more.
Elevational gradients are widely studied to understand environmental variability and species distribution. Ants play vital roles in ecosystems and are frequently included in elevational biogeography studies. Despite their ecological importance and well-documented elevational patterns, little is known about their temporal variability across elevations. We surveyed ground and arboreal ants in austral summer, autumn, spring, and winter in a subtropical rainforest of Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia. Given their physiological and microhabitat differences, ground and arboreal ants may exhibit distinct spatiotemporal patterns. Using litter extraction for ground ants and bark spraying for arboreal ants, we collected 14,916 individuals from 124 species. Species richness and abundance were lowest in austral winter, particularly for arboreal ants. Both richness and abundance declined with elevation, and this pattern remained consistent across seasons. While seasonal and elevational differences significantly influenced species composition, seasonal variation did not cause major shifts in the elevational distribution of ground or arboreal ants. A total of 43 species were identified as indicators of specific elevations, with species such as Notoncus capitatus and Colobostruma biconvexa being specialists of low elevations, and undescribed Monomorium and Discothyrea species being specialists of high elevations. In contrast, only two species were identified as seasonal indicators, which were undescribed Tapinoma and Anonychomyrma species, specialists of the warm season. Our findings suggest that ants reduce activity in winter but maintain stable elevational distributions regardless of season or microhabitat use, making their distributions a reliable indicator of their climatic niches. Full article
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