Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) (Pinales: Pinaceae) forest (LLP) is a biodiverse habitat where restoration and conservation entails frequent, periodic prescribed fire. Despite the important role ants play in structuring plant communities, only a few studies have identified the ant species that interact with plant seeds in LLP forests. This study investigates the effects of prescribed fire and coarse downed wood (CDW) management on the abundance and activity of seed-removing ants in LLP. Coarse Downed Wood (CDW) management is another factor that may influence ant-seed interactions because downed dead trees provide nesting and foraging habitat for many ant species. We found that over 40% of the ant community sampled removed seeds. Of these 20 ant species, eight were identified as seed-removers for the first time. The majority of seed removing ants were resilient to prescribed fire, and did not exhibit significant fluctuations in relative abundance over time in comparison to the overall ant community response. Seasonal fluctuations in the proportion of seeds removed and seed-removing ant richness in burned and unburned areas were observed, but were not significantly influenced by prescribed fire or proximity to CDW. These conclusions offer an encouraging picture of ants’ resiliency to fire in the LLP ecosystem. However, future studies should take into account species-specific responses to these factors to better understand the complexities of fire’s consequences on colony survival and fitness, patterns of CDW use by ants over time, and downstream effects on plant communities.
