Premium
Species diversity and temporal distribution of ants in the semi‐arid mallee region of northwestern Victoria
Author(s) -
ANDERSEN ALAN N.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
australian journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 0307-692X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1983.tb01600.x
Subject(s) - ecology , nocturnal , foraging , interspecific competition , biology , arid , seasonality , competition (biology) , quadrat , vegetation (pathology) , species diversity , shrub , medicine , pathology
The ant communities of two adjacent sites bearing markedly different vegetation (heath and mallee) were studied using quadrat counts and pitfall traps in semi‐arid northwestern Victoria. The ants were extremely abundant and rich in species (86 species from 27 genera were recorded from two 50 m × 25 m plots within 25 m of each other) and were dominated by species ofMonomorium and Iridomyrmex. Pronounced site differences in species composition were found, with 73% of the most abundant species showing a strong site preference. The ants exhibited marked seasonality: activity was highest in summer and lowest in winter and this was accompanied by a high turnover of species in time, resulting in pronounced seasonal differences in species composition. Most foraging was nocturnal during summer but was almost exclusively diurnal during winter, and individual species displayed distinctive patterns of diet foraging activity. Although the overall temporal distribution of the communities were apparently controlled by temperature, interspecific competition may also be an important factor influencing the seasonal and diel distributions of individual species, resulting in their high degree of temporal separation. The overall consequence is that although the study area contains many abundant species with similar ecological requirements, few of these are active in the same place at the same time.