Functional composition and dominance drive seed removal in ant assemblages of Atlantic Forest fragments

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Landscape modification driven by forest loss and fragmentation represents a pervasive threat to tropical forests and is expected to reshape biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We investigated how forest cover and edge density relate to ant assemblage structure and whether seed removal is associated with resource size, community dominance and weighted morphological traits across Atlantic Forest fragments in northeastern Brazil. Across 16 forest fragments, we recorded 55 ant species from 32 genera, with assemblages strongly dominated by seed predators (particularly Pheidole gp. diligens sp. 3 and Pheidole radoszkowskii ) while active dispersers remained relatively rare. Forest cover was positively associated with the abundance of both incidental individuals and individuals of species with no seed‐related role, whereas functional‐group richness was not significantly associated with either forest cover or edge density. Seed removal decreased markedly with increasing seed size, with medium and large seeds showing significantly lower removal probabilities than small seeds. Seed‐removal probability increased with community dominance but decreased with increasing community‐weighted mean mandible size. While ant species richness may appear resilient to landscape change, the functional composition and dominance structure of the assemblages may shift, with consequences for ecosystem functioning. Stable species richness can mask functional reorganization, and seed removal is primarily driven by trait composition and dominance, highlighting the need to prioritize functionally important species in modified landscapes.