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Arboreal ant diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a central African forest
Author(s) -
Yanoviak S. P.,
Fisher B. L.,
Alonso A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00810.x
Subject(s) - entomology , biodiversity , geography , hymenoptera , library science , arboreal locomotion , national park , ecology , archaeology , biology , habitat , computer science
Like many developing tropical areas, central Africa is subject to substantial anthropogenic disturbance associ- ated with the large-scale harvesting of natural resources. We surveyed the ants of the forest canopy at an oil extraction site near Gamba, Gabon. Ants were collected by hand and with tuna baits from nine tree crowns in late secondary forest. Thirty-six ant species were collected in all. Michaelis-Menten and incidence-based richness cov- erage estimates indicate that this represents 65% of the arboreal ant species richness at the site. Crematogaster spp. generally were behaviourally aggressive and monopolized baits in most trees. Taxonomic similarity (classical Søren- sen index) averaged 0.25 (range ¼ 0.00-0.50) between trees and was not a function of the distances separating them. No edge effects were detected, but there was a ten- dency for trees within the same forest patch to show higher similarity in ant composition than trees in separate pat- ches. Overall arboreal ant species richness and composition in the disturbed forests around Gamba were similar to those found in primary forests of the region.