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Different Aspects of Dominance Are Not Equivalent When Testing for Trade-Offs in Ant Communities
Annika S Nelson1,2, Kailen A Mooney2,3
1Department of Biology Texas Christian University Fort Worth Texas USA.
Ecology and Evolution
|September 24, 2025
Summary
Different aspects of ant dominance, like behavioral and numerical, are not interchangeable. While behavioral dominance may slow resource discovery, this trade-off is rare across ant communities.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Animal Behavior
- Community Ecology
Background:
- Dominance is key to understanding competition outcomes, but its definition and underlying traits are unclear.
- Ant dominance has multiple facets, including behavioral, numerical, and ecological aspects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate relationships between various dominance metrics in ants.
- To explore trade-offs between dominance and resource discovery ability.
- To identify traits associated with dominance patterns in a high-elevation ant community.
Main Methods:
- Examined behavioral, numerical, and ecological dominance metrics in five ant taxa.
- Conducted an empirical study and a meta-analysis of 21 studies (54 responses).
- Assessed correlations between dominance metrics and resource discovery speed.
Main Results:
- Behavioral and numerical dominance showed distinct patterns; behavioral dominance correlated with slower discovery.
- Fast resource discovery was linked to higher numerical dominance (abundance).
- Meta-analysis indicated discovery ability correlates positively with numerical dominance but variably with behavioral/ecological dominance.
Conclusions:
- Different ant dominance metrics are not equivalent.
- A dominance-discovery trade-off exists for behavioral dominance, likely due to body size and recruitment.
- Dominance-discovery trade-offs are uncommon across most ant communities despite varying dominance types.
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