Lasmar, Chaim J.Bishop, Tom R.Parr, Catherine LucyQueiroz, Antonio C.M.Schmidt, Fernando A.Ribas, Carla R.2022-04-282022-04-282021-06Lasmar, C.J., Bishop, T.R., Parr, C.L., Queiroz, A.C.M., Schmidt, F.A. & Ribas, C.R. Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity. Journal of Biogeography 2021;48:1448– 1459. https://DOI.org/10.1111/jbi.14089.0305-0270 (print)1365-2699 (online)10.1111/jbi.14089https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/84930Chaim J. Lasmar is a Post-doctoral researcher at the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Aplicada (Universidade Federal de Lavras, Brazil). This study was part of his Ph. D. work at the Universidade Federal de Lavras with an internship period at the University of Liverpool.DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: All data have been uploaded to Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6wwpzgmxc).AIM : Foraging activity is critical for animal survival. Comprehending how ecological drivers influence foraging behaviour would benefit our understanding of the link between animals and ecological processes. Here, we evaluated the influence of ecological drivers on ant foraging activity and relative resource use. LOCATION : Six Brazilian biomes: Amazon, Atlantic rainforest, Caatinga, Cerrado, Pampa and Pantanal. TAXON : Formicidae. METHODS : We assessed ant foraging activity and resource use by sampling across 60 sites. We placed baited tubes that contained one of five liquid resources (sugar, lipids, amino acid, sodium and distilled water). We used model selection to assess the influence of ecological drivers (temperature, precipitation, temperature seasonality and net primary productivity) on ant foraging activity and relative resource use. RESULTS : Foraging activity was higher in wetter, more productive and less thermally seasonal environments. The relative use of amino acids increased at higher temperatures while the relative use of lipids decreased. The relative use of sugar increased in drier and less productive environments with high-temperature seasonality while the relative use of amino acid and sodium decreased in those environments. The relative use of lipids was complex: increasing with increasing temperature seasonality and decreasing with increasing precipitation. Furthermore, the relative use of sodium was greater where the foraging activity was high. MAIN CONCLUSIONS : We demonstrate how ecological drivers are correlated with ant foraging activity and resource use in the field across large spatial scales. The search for resources encompasses different interactions involving ants with abiotic and biotic components in the ecosystem. Thus, we suggest that changes in climate and NPP, which influence the intensity and the way that ants search for resources, will result in changes in ant-mediated ecological processes.en© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article : Geographical variation in ant foraging activity and resource use is driven by climate and net primary productivity. Journal of Biogeography 2021;48:1448– 1459. https://DOI.org/10.1111/jbi.14089. The definite version is available at : http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jbi.AntsBiogeographyClimate effectsFeeding activityForaging behaviourMacroecologyNeotropicsNutritional ecologyPostprint Article