The ecosystem services provided by social insects: traits, management tools and knowledge gaps.

Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
Luciana ElizaldeGabriela I Pirk

Abstract

Social insects, i.e. ants, bees, wasps and termites, are key components of ecological communities, and are important ecosystem services (ESs) providers. Here, we review the literature in order to (i) analyse the particular traits of social insects that make them good suppliers of ESs; (ii) compile and assess management strategies that improve the services provided by social insects; and (iii) detect gaps in our knowledge about the services that social insects provide. Social insects provide at least 10 ESs; however, many of them are poorly understood or valued. Relevant traits of social insects include high biomass and numerical abundance, a diversity of mutualistic associations, the ability to build important biogenic structures, versatile production of chemical defences, the simultaneous delivery of several ESs, the presence of castes and division of labour, efficient communication and cooperation, the capacity to store food, and a long lifespan. All these characteristics enhance social insects as ES providers, highlighting their potential, constancy and efficiency as suppliers of these services. In turn, many of these traits make social insects stress tolerant and easy to manage, so increasing the ESs they provide. We emphas...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 11, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Ryan E BrockAndrew F G Bourke
Feb 6, 2021·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Florian Menzel, Barbara Feldmeyer
Apr 30, 2021·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Ryan E BrockSeirian Sumner
Aug 8, 2021·The New Phytologist·Maria Gabriela BoaventuraTatiana Cornelissen
Aug 28, 2021·Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology·Jayaraman KumaravelMuthugounder Subramanian Shivakumar
Oct 13, 2021·Current Biology : CB·Joseph Parker, Daniel J C Kronauer
Oct 30, 2021·Ecology·Robert L EmmetBeth Gardner

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