<![CDATA[Epigeic ants are a prominent group of soil arthropods in coffee agroecosystems, functioning as predators, decomposers, and bioindicators. Information on how environmental gradients and the use of shade tree types influence epigeic ant communities in Indonesian coffee agroecosystem remains limited. Pine (Pinus merkusii) and lead tree (Leucaena leucocephala) shade trees in coffee plantations are thought to influence the community structure of epigeic ants. This study evaluated the effect of elevation, canopy cover and shade type on the species richness, activity-density, and community composition of epigeic ants in coffee agroecosystem in Malang, East Java. Ants were sampled at four location with a total 12 observation plots using five pitfall traps each plot across three sampling occasions (24 hour each). Specimens were identified to the morphospecies level. Species richness was analysed using Poisson Generalized Linear Model (GLM), activity-density using a negative binomial GLM, and community composition using Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) and Analysis of Similarities (ANOSIM) based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity. A total 770 individuals epigeic ants were recorded, representing 19 morphospecies, 16 genera, and four subfamilies. GLM analyses showed that elevation, percentage of canopy cover, and shade type had no significant effect on either species richness or the activity-density of epigeic ants (all P-value > 0.05). The NMDS analyses and ANOSIM also showed that the ant community composition under pine and lead tree shade was relatively similar. Within the limitations of this study, no statistically significant effects of elevation, canopy cover, or shade type on epigeic ant were detected.]]>
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