Abstract

We examined habitat disturbance, species richness, equitability, and abundance of ants in the Fall-Line Sandhills, at Fort Benning, Georgia. We collected ants with pitfall traps, sweep nets, and by searching tree trunks. Disturbed areas were used for military training; tracked and wheeled vehicles damaged vegetation and soils. Highly disturbed sites had fewer trees, diminished ground cover, warmer soils in the summer, and more compacted soils with a shallower A-horizon. We collected 48 species of ants, in 23 genera (141,468 individuals), over four years of sampling. Highly disturbed areas had fewer species, and greater numbers of ants than did moderately or lightly disturbed areas. The ant communities in disturbed areas were also less equitable, and were dominated by Dorymyrmex smithi.

Details

Title
Habitat disturbance and the diversity and abundance of ants (Formicidae) in the Southeastern Fall-Line Sandhills
Author
Graham, John H 1 ; Hughie, Hoyt H 1 ; Jones, Susan 2 ; Wrinn, Kerri 3 ; Krzysik, Anthony J 4 ; Duda, Jeffrey J 5 ; Freeman, D Carl 6 ; Emlen, John M 5 ; Zak, John C 7 ; Kovacic, David A 8 ; Chamberlin-Graham, Catherine 1 ; Balbach, Harold 9 

 Department of Biology, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, 30149 [email protected] 
 Department of Biology, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, 30149 [email protected]; Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida, 32312-0918 
 Department of Biology, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, 30149 [email protected]; University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 40121 
 Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona, 86301 
 USGS Biological Resources Division, Western Fisheries Research Center, Seattle, Washington, 98115 
 Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 48202 
 Department of Biology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, 79409 
 Department of Landscape Architecture and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, 61820 
 U.S. Army ERDC-CERL, Champaign, Illinois, 61826 
Publication year
2004
Publication date
2004
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
15362442
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3170839384
Copyright
This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.