Spatial arrangement and diet overlap between colonies of desert ants

The spatial patterns and diets of three desert ant species were examined. The results indicate that food competition may account for the spatial arrangement of these species, and that only intraspecific interactions may be required. Each ant species was significantly overdispersed, and the average intraspecific nearest neighbor distances were greater than the interspecific nearest neighbor distances. A test of pairwise spatial arrangment showed that all three species pairs were aggregated interspecifically. The level of the interspecific aggregation was related to the diet similarity of the species. The two species pairs with the lowest diet overlaps were significantly aggregated, and the species pair with the most similar diets was not significantly aggregated. Pairwise dietary overlaps between colonies showed that average intraspecific overlaps were significantly greater than interspecific diet overlaps. Furthermore, the diet overlap was significantly positively correlated to the mean nearest neighbor distance for the three intraspecific and three interspecific comparisons. These data indicate competition for food, especially within species, may be regulating the intercolony distances of these ant species. A computer simulation tested whether only intraspecific territoriality is necessary to produce the observed nearest neighbor distances. A simulation that placed colonies randomly on a patch confirmed that these colonies are intraspecifically overdispersed. By adding intraspecific territoriality, the simulation nearest neighbor distances fit the empirical data reasonably well. Thus interspecific competitive interactions seem unnecessary to account for the spatial arrangement of these species.