Grupos Funcionales de Hormigas1 en Ecorregiones de Durango, México

Abstract

Ants are one of the highly successful and abundant groups, whereof about 16,598 valid species in 290 genera have been described so far, whereas global trends predict a total of 21,847 species in 574 genera. The use of functional groups has helped to identify general patterns of structure in communities, and make comparisons between community and ecosystems. The aim of this work was to analyze functional groups of ants in the ecoregions of Durango, Mexico, which are North American deserts, southern semi-arid elevations, warm-dry forests and temperate sierras. Generalist Myrmicinae was the functional group with largest percentage (22%), followed by tropical climate specialists (15%), opportunists (15%), hot climate specialists (12%), subordinate camponotini (10%) dominant Dolochoderinae (10%) and cold climate specialists (10%) while specialized predators and cryptic species the lowest percentage (3%). This knowledge helps to build the basis for identifying general patterns of community structure and classifying ant communities in relation to disturbance and stress.