Species responses to patch area, habitat loss, and cattle
Overall species occupancy consistently increased with both patch area (Fig. 3D; Fig. S4D) and habitat amount (Fig. S5D; S6D) but decreased in patches trampled and herbivorized by cattle (Fig. S7D; S8D). Although patch area and cattle were correlated and their effects were difficult to separate, area and cattle were still associated with a decrease in species occupancy when an independent effect of each variable was examined in the same model (partial effects; Fig. S9). Moreover, the effect of cattle on overall species occupancy was slightly stronger than that predicted by patch area alone – cattle reduced overall species occupancy by ~14%, compared to a ~12% decrease by a corresponding reduction in patch area.
The positive effect of patch area on occupancy was highly consistent among ant species (low variation across species/random effects in Fig. S10D), but we could not determine with high certainty whether or not ant species varied in their response to habitat amount (Fig. S11D) and cattle (Fig. S12D). We were unable to find any effect of species traits on their occupancy (Fig. S13A;C) or on species responses to predictors. When present, small-bodied ants were easier to detect in Winkler extractors than large-bodied ants (Weber’s length; Fig. S13B-D).